


I Have Been Waiting For You

by BeChloeMevie358



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies), The Last Five Years (2014)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25800613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeChloeMevie358/pseuds/BeChloeMevie358
Summary: Pitch Perfect essentially merges into The Last Five Years. TW's inside in beginning author's note of applicable chapters.
Relationships: Cathy Hyatt/Jamie Wellerstein, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story. Beca is both Beca and Cathy by the way. Just in advance, I actually don't have anything against Jamie. I thought he was a great boyfriend to Cathy before they got married, but he's supposed to be the antagonist and with the lyrics, this is how I imagined the situation. Hope you enjoy.

Lincoln Centre, 2012…

_"_ _WE DID IT, BECS!" Chloe excitedly squealed._

_She was practically jumping up and down as she held her best friend's hands and tried to get her to join her, but she frowned when she made no sort of move to do so._

_"_ _Beca? Are you okay?"_

_"_ _Y-yeah, I just…I have something to tell you! Can we just…" Beca nervously responded, instinctively fiddling with the slightly taller girl's slim fingers to try and calm herself down._

_They were forced to practically yell over the crowd's adoring hollers and applause and the other Barden University Bellas' celebratory cheers._

_They had just won the finals of the 2012 International Championship of Collegiate A Capella over their biggest rivals, the Barden University Treblemakers. They had also just been awarded a pretty nice-looking trophy, so you could say they were pretty proud of themselves._

_"_ _Yeah. Yeah, sure. Come on," the redhead replied as she guided the small brunette to the side of the stage where it was a little quieter, slightly worried by the anxious look on her face, "What's up, Becs? Is everything okay?"_

_They had just accomplished the one thing that they've been working for the entire year and everyone was ecstatic. Everyone except for Beca apparently and that was a concerning sign._

_"_ _Yeah. Yeah, no, I-I'm fine, I just—Um, I love you," the tiny DJ confessed in a pretty ungraceful manner, looking anywhere but into the older girl's bright, electric-blue eyes._

_Chloe giggled nonchalantly and responded, "I love you too, Becs."_

_"_ _No, Chlo, like, I-I mean I_ love _you," the short freshman repeated, but when she realized that the ginger still wasn't getting it, she let out an awkward, breathy laugh and ran a hand over her face in frustration with herself._

_She tried to piece together a proper way to explain, but she knew that that would end with them being there until the following year, so she just went for it. She was a singer, she had to be good at improv anyway, right?_

_"_ _Okay, I-I really hope this won't make you think that I'm a weirdo or creep you out or anything," Beca started to elaborate, "So, what I'm trying to tell you is that I love you in more of a platonic way and I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but, I mean, can you blame me?_

_"_ _You're so sweet and caring and beautiful. Since the moment I saw you at that stupid activities fair, I felt something light up inside me. Ever since, you've always been on my mind_ _24/7_ _. You're the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last thought on my mind at night when I fall asleep. Hell, you even invade my dreams sometimes…but in-in a good way. God, that sounds so creepy._

_"_ _Um, okay, but remember on Hood Night you told me that we were gonna be really fast friends? Well, you were right, but I always thought that maybe…we could be more."_

_Chloe stood there wide-eyed and slightly slack-jawed, completely in shock. She couldn't believe that Beca liked her like that. It didn't_ not _make sense when she looked back at their relationship now, but she just didn't see herself as being the kind of person the younger girl crushed on. Apparently she was though and now she was sort of stuck in this dilemma between not wanting to lose her best friend but also not wanting to lead her on any more than she might've already._

_As she tried to find the right words to express these conflicting feelings, she saw the twinkle of hope and pure adoration in the younger girl's eyes._

_This was going to be difficult._

_"_ _Becs, I…You're amazing too. I'll never think that you're a creep and I'll never be uncomfortable around you. I just—I don't like you like that. I-I'm so sorry. I love you but just as a friend," the senior tried to say it as gently as she possibly could._

_Her heart ached slightly when a flash of disappointment and hurt crossed Beca's face, however it was gone in an instant and covered up with a very small but genuine smile._

_"_ _Yeah, no, it's-it's okay. I didn't think you'd…I mean, I just…I had to tell you. I had to, you know, get it out there. Um, but I really hope this doesn't…affect us," the small brunette stuttered, trying to ignore the dull heaviness in her chest._

_"_ _Of course. You're one of my best friends and I don't wanna lose you either," the redhead agreed, then jokingly added to lighten the mood, "I mean, I get it. I'm basically a goddess."_

_The two chuckled, then Chloe questioned, "Are you sure you're really okay though?"_

_Beca felt her hand lightly brush her arm and knew what she was implying. She couldn't deny the instinctive impulse. The slight urge to feel the cold blade on any of her limbs. To feel her skin splitting while warm blood ran down whatever part of her body for stupidly thinking that there could be a chance that the senior would actually like her back. Nevertheless, she ignored it as much as she could and kept her smile on her face._

_"_ _Yeah, I'm okay," the tiny DJ replied._

_"_ _Are you sure?" Chloe asked again._

_She wanted to make sure that Beca wasn't going to do something she'd regret later and she definitely didn't want to be the cause of it. The younger girl would never trust her or want to see her again._

_"_ _Promise," Beca reassured her, pulling the slightly taller girl into a tight hug to prove it._

_She was admittedly pretty devastated that the redhead didn't like her back, but she could deal just as long as Chloe didn't leave._

_If the redhead left her, she honestly wouldn't know what to do. Her life would become so much more meaningless. She couldn't bare even just the thought of losing her best friend, but she was still there. She was still with her even if it wasn't in the way that she'd hoped for and that was okay._

* * *

_New York, 2020_

Chloe hastily knocked on the big sliding door, calling to the woman through the heavy wood, "Beca! Come on, open up! Please! Beca, you gave me a spare key, so we're coming in either way! We just wanna know that you're okay!"

No answer.

"Is she coming?" Stacie asked from the bottom of the stone stairs just outside the front door.

Meanwhile, Aubrey was standing beside her, looking around every once in a while in case one of the two they were searching for came walking down the sidewalk.

The redhead up the stairs turned with a sigh and shook her head sadly.

None of the three had heard from the small woman for a week now. That wasn't normal. They were all still best friends and they still could barely go five hours without shooting a simple "Hey" text, so to say they were worried was an understatement.

"Chlo, just use the key. They'll understand...probably," Aubrey told her.

She knew Chloe had just added that part to coax the brunette into answering if she was indeed home. She didn't really—none of them did actually—want to use the key for fear of invading their privacy, especially since Beca was…well Beca, but this was starting to become strange and they were all concerned, needless to say.

The redhead sighed, reluctantly taking the key Beca had given her and unlocked the door. The three girls carefully and as quietly as possible entered the apartment, softly closing the door behind them. Well, as softly as they could with an old, creaky, heavy sliding door.

"Beca?" Chloe called out, her voice ringing throughout the silent apartment.

"Where could she be? Do you think they're out? Maybe they've been on a trip and she just didn't tell us," Aubrey wondered aloud, though they all knew it was a weak reason. Beca told them basically everything.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Then I guess we probably shouldn't be in their house," Chloe unconvincingly agreed.

The three girls turned to leave, but Stacie suddenly stopped them all. "Wait! Do you hear that?"

They all froze and made no noise whatsoever.

A soft sound cut through the silence, echoing from somewhere further in the apartment. It sounded like a small, choked sob and it sounded like it came from Beca. This immediately alerted the girls of something wrong and their concern intensified tenfold.

"Beca?" Chloe called out again, a little more frantically.

The crying instantly stopped. She must've thought they'd left already and now she knew she was caught.

"Bathroom," Stacie simply mouthed as the three started towards said room.

Beca was crying in the bathroom. Not good. Not good at all. They all knew what that could potentially mean, but they didn't want to consider the possibility.

"Beca, are you okay?" Aubrey asked once they were in the bedroom.

Nothing. Now they were panicking.

"Beca?" the leggy woman called for her again once they rounded the large bed and entered the tiny kitchen.

They got to the bathroom door and noticed that the light was on as there was a stream of it seeping through from the cracks between the door and its frame.

"Beca, are you in there? Is it okay if we come in?" Chloe questioned as she pressed a hand and the side of her head against the wood, but again, there was no response.

"Maybe we should let her come to us," Aubrey softly suggested, gently placing her hand on her best friend's shoulder, then starting to make her way back to the living room.

The other two were about to reluctantly follow when they heard a few loud _thuds_ come from inside the bathroom. They immediately spun around and yanked at the knob, only to find it locked.

"Beca?" Stacie and Aubrey yelled to her in panic as they knocked loudly on the door.

The redhead desperately searched through the drawers to find a key and almost hopped in celebration when she succeeded, but she knew that there was no time. She hurriedly inserted the key into the keyhole and swiftly shoved the door open.

"Oh my god! Beca!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 1: End of Our Senior Year

_Barden University, Bella House, 2015_

"I can not believe we actually won Worlds! No, wait, actually I can. You know why? Because we're the motherfucking Bellas and we're absolutely aca-awesome. Fuck you, Das Sound Machine! That sure as hell showed them that we are indeed the kickers of ass. Who run the world? The Bellas! What!" Stacie was still hyped from the Worlds win and she definitely showed it by continuously pointing out their "aca-awesomeness" and savagely dissing their former competition.

Beca and Chloe laughed at the leggy strawberry-blonde's antics as they continued dusting every surface in the last room of the Bella house needing to be cleaned, which was the living room.

Aubrey, on the other hand, half-heartedly scolded the taller girl, "Stace, I noticed that the vacuum has been off and immobile for ten minutes now. Feel free to do anything about it."

She was ignored.

"I know right. It's just kind of bittersweet though, you know? Fat Amy's probably going to Little Rock with Bumper. CR's moving to Maine and getting married. Flo's luckily not being deported, but she's planning on opening a juice truck in Brooklyn. Lilly's staying here. Em too to finish college and lead the new Bellas. Who knows what Jessica and Ashley are doing, but they're probably gonna be doing it together and somewhere else. Becs is going to LA. And you, Aubrey, and I are going to NYC. We're all leaving and going our separate ways. It makes me kind of sad," Chloe downheartedly confessed.

"Hey, just because we're doing our own things, going to different places, doesn't mean we all have to stop being friends. We're all still Bellas and that won't change. It's for life, dude and it'll keep us connected to each other," Beca sincerely reassured her best friend and added with a slight blush in her cheeks, "And I know that I'll at least always be there for you."

This made the redhead's heart melt. The younger girl was so sweet and adorable, even though she pretended not to be.

Over the last four years, the redhead had gotten even closer with Beca than before, during the younger girl's freshman year, if that was even possible. She may have even fallen for her.

One of her biggest regrets was rejecting Beca at their first ICCA finals win. She couldn't really do anything about it now though since they were about to move 2 789.6 miles away from each other (yes, she knew exactly how far. It's not creepy. Okay, maybe a little).

"Awww!" Stacie interrupted. It was just too cute not to melt about it. She then addressed the other blonde with a cheeky grin, "Bree, I can't believe you're actually willing to leave your retreat for New York."

"Stace, you know better than anyone else why I'm actually moving to New York with you and Chloe," Aubrey monotonously replied, not even looking behind her from where she was cleaning the big window at the front of the living room, but mostly because she didn't want her friends to catch her blushing.

"I know, it's just so sweet!" the leggy strawberry-blonde gushed and hugged the blonde from behind with a kiss on the cheek before she added more sincerely, "Thank you."

Beca and Chloe watched their friends, happy for the two. They were one of the most unlikely couples. Aubrey being the uptight, no bullshit type but secretly with a big heart and Stacie being the fun-loving, potential model/secret science nerd. It was so cheesy, but they really did complete each other.

Beca's phone suddenly went off and she excused herself, walking outside to answer the call.

The second Beca left the house, Chloe turned to her friends and started freaking out, "Guys, what do I do about Beca? I finally realize I like her back and she's moving across the country from where I'll be. Long distance relationships never work, she can't move to New York with us because of her record label, and I already have auditions scheduled in New York in a few weeks. I don't know what to do! Please, someone tell me what I should or even can do!"

"Chloe, calm down. Don't worry, everything will work itself out. Trust me," Stacie tried to ease the redhead up.

Chloe was about to panic some more, but Beca reentered the house. She wasn't there for long however as she announced that she had to leave. "Hey, guys. I have to get going. I, uh, I'll see you sometime."

"We're gonna miss you, Bec." Stacie was the first to say goodbye and gave her a big, long hug.

Aubrey was next to give the shorter girl a goodbye and a hug. "If you're ever in New York for the label, don't hesitate to call and you'll always be welcome at our place."

Beca nodded with a grateful smile and said thank you. And finally Chloe. God, this was going to be difficult.

"The only thing I can think to say to you is to thank you for nearly giving me a heart attack when you barged into my shower that night during my freshman year and forced me to sing Titanium with you. I honestly thought I was about to reenact that cheesy shower murdering scene in that famous horror movie. Can't believe it turned out to be the best thing to have ever happened to me. So thank you and I'm gonna miss you so much," the tiny DJ told the redhead with a long, tight hug.

Neither of them wanted to let go, but they knew they had to at some point. For now though, they were just going to save this moment for themselves.

"Thank you for everything you've done for the Bellas and for me. I'm gonna miss you too so much and I...know you're gonna do amazingly in LA." Chloe returned, mentally berating herself for backing out of saying "I love you."

When the two finally released each other, Chloe watched Beca go to finish packing and leave with a longing expression on her face.

 _"I can't believe that's actually gonna be the last time I see her for who knows how long. I should've told her. Left it in her mind that I finally love her back and that I'll be thinking of her non-stop_."

"Chlo? You okay?" Aubrey asked her best friend as she walked up to her and sympathetically placed a hand on the small of her back.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Chloe answered, nodding her head as she snapped out of her daze, though it was obviously a lie.

"Chlo, don't be upset. Like I said, everything will work itself out. You'll see. Don't let go of her that easily," Stacie reassured the ginger with a comforting side hug.

"Come on, we should be heading home too," the blonde told the other two as she started to put all of the cleaning supplies away.

"No. Stacie's right. I'm not letting her go that easily," the redhead suddenly declared, confusing her friends.

"What do you mean?" Aubrey asked.

"I mean, I'm gonna go see her and tell her that I love her before she leaves for the airport," Chloe determinedly stated, already searching for her car keys, then marching out to her car.

"What—no! Chloe, that's not what I meant! That's not what I was implying! I don't think you should—" Stacie shouted after her, chasing her until the door, but by then it was too late as the redhead was already pulling onto the road.

* * *

Chloe drove to Beca's dad's place in record time and nervously knocked on the door. She waited at the front door, trying to gather her thoughts and figure out what she was going to say to the younger girl. _  
_

_"Do I just outright say 'I love you' or slowly get to that? No, wait, she has a flight soon. But then again, this is Beca. I don't wanna freak her out by just immediately laying it all out on her. Should I have just called her when—No! Definitely not. This is not an over-the-phone kind of topic. Oh God! What am I doing? What do I say?"_

The redhead was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard noise coming from inside. The door opened and revealed the beautiful, small brunette.

"Beca!" Chloe exclaimed with a hug.

"Chloe! What-what are you doing here?" Beca questioned in confusion after the hug, elated that she got the opportunity to see her best friend again before the flight but also perplexed as to why.

"I couldn't let you leave without seeing you one more time and without telling you this. Beca, I—" the redhead was about to finally confess her feelings but was cut off by an unfamiliar male voice coming from inside the house.

"Beca, who is it?"

At first, Chloe thought that it was Beca's dad with maybe a cold or the flu or something because the voice was very obviously male, but it was a little bit higher than Mr. Mitchell's.

However, instead of the English professor coming out, a handsome, young, brunette man walked up from behind the much shorter girl. He stopped suddenly when he saw the flame-haired woman, but then something along the lines of recognition crossed his face.

The newcomer extended his hand for a handshake, which Chloe didn't even realize she was accepting as she was too busy analyzing him, and greeted the redhead, "Oh! Hello, you must be Chloe Beale, Beca's best friend. I've heard so much about you."

The man was tall, very handsome, friendly-looking, fair skin, and had very dark brown hair that was messy yet not too messy. He also seemed to have an athletic form, but not like a bodybuilder and more like someone who just knows how to properly take care of their body. He's the kind of guy any girl would go for, including herself if she wasn't completely interested in only Beca.

"Um, hi. Yes, I am and you are?" Chloe put on her friendly and bubbly personality to mask the suspicion and worry about what this person meant to the small brunette.

"Uh, this is Jamie. I met him a little while ago," Beca spoke cautiously, "Um, he's also my boyfriend."

And that was when Chloe's whole world came crumbling down. It felt like an entire skyscraper had just tumbled down onto her, each and every last brick and piece of glass hitting her. Like her heart had just been stomped on by every single human being on the planet.

_"Beca has a boyfriend. She's moved on. She's over me. She loves someone and it's not me anymore. She had waited long enough and found herself someone who would actually love her back."_

Regret and disappointment swirled inside of her so intensely. It was like an internal storm of negative feelings. Nevertheless, she attempted to put on her sunny disposition and responded the way a true best friend should, despite feeling slightly broken inside.

"Oh my god! Becs, you have a boyfriend? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Chloe said with fake enthusiasm, trying to keep her voice from cracking, "I'm so happy for you."

"You are? Oh thank god. I was so worried you'd be mad at me for keeping this stuff secret from you. I swear I wanted to tell you in a bit more of a, you know, grand way instead of on the steps of my dad's front door, but since it's all coming out now," Beca reluctantly started to explain, disappointed that it wasn't going to be a bigger surprise, "Jamie lives in New York City. He was visiting a friend here for the summer. He's going back today and…I'm going with him!"

It was supposed to be a secret until she and Jamie surprised the girls in New York and then they'd introduce him to her friends and finally tell them about their relationship.

"You're moving to New York? Not LA?" Chloe's voice raised in surprise in both pitch and volume.

She knew Beca had been dreaming about moving to LA forever and wondered how on earth this guy got her to change her mind so suddenly. It was also kind of a kick right to the stomach to realize that the younger woman would apparently give everything up for this Jamie, but would've still left her to go to LA. Then again, they were actually dating and she and Beca were just…her and Beca.

"Yeah, I-I was gonna tell you, honestly, but like I said, it was supposed to be a surprise. We were kind of planning on casually showing up at your new place in New York, but I didn't expect you to come see me again after we left the Bella House for the last time. Not that I'm not happy about it because I really am. Um, so why did you come over? What were you saying before?" Beca asked, remembering that she'd just been about to say something at the beginning of the conversation before the tall brunette appeared.

The redhead didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell her though now that she had a boyfriend who she seemed to be perfectly happy with. That just wouldn't be fair to her.

"I…Uh, I just wanted to say goodbye one more time, but I guess now I can say see you later," Chloe replied with a smile that was genuine because she'd be able to see her best friend so much more but also that wasn't because she'd have to see her be with her new boyfriend.

"Thanks, Chlo. And I promise I'll explain everything later, but we have to be heading for the airport in about half an hour, so it'll have to wait. It was awesome seeing you again though before we leave and we'll see you in New York in a month then," the small brunette said with a final hug, then returned inside to finish packing.

"It was nice meeting you, Chloe. Beca's told me a lot of great things about you and I can't wait to get to know you myself," Jamie politely added, then followed the shorter girl back into the house, shutting the door behind him.

Chloe stood there for a good ten seconds, just staring at the door, then stiffly turned and retreated to her car. As she drove back to her parents' house, she noticed she had eight missed calls from Stacie. Just then her phone started ringing from yet another call from her, so she answered it and put her phone on speaker.

"Chloe! Finally! You picked up," the tall blonde's voice came from the device.

"Hey, Stace," the redhead greeted, not being able to hide her glum mood.

"I'm guessing she told you about Jamie and about her moving to New York," the leggy brunette presumed in a cautious tone.

"Wha—you knew and you didn't tell me? I basically just went there only to be completely let down," Chloe suddenly asked, her voice rising in disbelief that Beca had told Stacie and not her and that the taller girl didn't tell her.

"Chloe, I'm sorry I didn't stop you in time, but I'm not gonna apologize for not telling you earlier because Beca asked me not to. Besides, the only reason why she told me and not you is because she was excited and she wanted to talk to _someone_ about it, but you'd already left for Paris with your parents. Well, that and another thing."

They all knew what she was talking about there.

"Anyway, she told me and she said that she wanted it to be a surprise for you and Bree when we met up in New York, so I promised her that I wouldn't say anything, especially to you," Stacie explained calmly.

She knew that the ginger didn't mean to sound accusing nor rude and that she was just sad about discovering Beca's secret relationship after finally deciding that she was going to confess her own feelings for her.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm-I'm sorry. I guess you're…Wait, I left for Paris two weeks after the Worlds. Has she been dating him for like three months and I didn't even notice?" Chloe backtracked, just now realizing how long this must've been going on without anyone but Stacie knowing.

"I mean, to be fair, she was really good at hiding it," the blonde gently told her friend, "She met him when she was hired as a DJ for one of his friends' parties. I guess he liked her and asked her out. I've met him and he's actually a really nice guy and she has been pretty happy lately being with him, Chlo. I think she really likes him. When she told me, she said she hadn't felt this way for anyone else since you until she met him."

Chloe arrived at her parents' house and parked in front of the house, turning off her car. She slumped back into her chair as she tossed her keys into her cup-holder.

"Wow, I must really be blind if I didn't notice anything different about her. I honestly thought she still liked me. I thought we might've actually had a chance," the redhead thought aloud, sounding pretty depressed.

"Chloe, she still loves you. She always will. You were her first ever love and she could never forget that or deny that she will always have feelings for you. She's just found someone else who she feels the same way for and who she knows likes her back just as much," Stacie told Chloe, trying really hard to lighten her mood a little.

"Did she say this?" the ginger asked.

"No. No, she didn't, but she didn't have to. I know it," the leggy woman confidently assured, truly believing what she was saying.

The tall Bella on the other line was waiting for the older girl's response, but she was met with only silence. She frowned, glancing at the blonde beside her, who had been updated on everything and was with her right now, quietly listening to the conversation.

"Did she hang up?" Aubrey mouthed in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I don't know," Stacie replied with a shrug and copying her girlfriend's expression.

Finally, the redhead started speaking again, hesitantly asking, "I know it sounds pretty selfish to ask this, but do you think she would leave him…for me?"

Now it was Stacie's turn to be speechless because she honestly didn't have an answer to her question. She wanted to say yes to give her friend some hope and to boost her mood a little, but she didn't want to end up lying to her if it turns out to be untrue. She also had no idea if Beca really would do that as she seemed genuinely into Jamie.

She looked towards Aubrey for some backup, but she only shrugged and gave her a helpless look.

_"Thanks, babe."_

"Uhm, I'm not gonna say yes, but I'm not gonna say no. Like I said, I truly believe that she will always love you even just a bit, but I can also see that she really likes Jamie.

"For now, I'd say to try and just be her best friend. I know that's gonna be hard for you. I'm not gonna pretend to be under any delusion that it's as simple as that. But then you'll still have her in your life at least, even if it isn't the way you want it. A taken Beca is better than no Beca," the leggy girl advised, glad that she'd somehow pieced together a decent-sounding response to such a question.

"You're right. I don't know how you're so good with words in situations like this, but you really made me feel better. Thanks, Stace. I should get going. Bye, Stacie," Chloe said, then added knowingly, "Bye, Bree."

The two blondes looked at each other. _"Of course she knew."_

"Bye, Chloe," the couple replied in unison.

Once they hung up, Aubrey wore a slightly embarrassed expression at being caught eavesdropping. She looked at her girlfriend and stated, "Okay, you were right. Maybe she knows me a little too well."

Stacie tilted her head in mock disbelief and asked in a false curious tone, "No! You think?"

* * *

"So, that was the famous Chloe Beale, huh? The one that you…" Jamie awkwardly trailed off as they started to fill the taxi's trunk.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, she's the one, but I promise, I'm over her. It was just a 'first crush' kind of thing, you know? We're still just best friends and that's how we'll stay, which I'm fine with because I'm with you now and I couldn't be happier," Beca replied sincerely with a little peck to her boyfriend's lips.

She didn't know if what she was telling him was 100% true. She knew that she and Chloe would always be best friends and that's all. She also knew that Chloe was not just a first crush and that she was much, much more than that, but she didn't know if she was truly, completely over her or if she ever would be. She did however really, really like Jamie and that was enough for her to want to continue this relationship.

"Baby, don't worry. I believe you and I feel the same way," the brown-haired man told his girlfriend, then added teasingly, "Although it makes sense. She's pretty damn hot."

"Wha—excuse me! You dick!" Beca replied jokingly, lightly punching Jamie's arm, "Your girlfriend right over here's not exactly loving the way you're talking about her best friend."

The small brunette crossed her arms and put a pout on her face.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm sorry, baby," the tall man told the tiny DJ and engulfed her into a big hug, kissing her on the top of her head.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Asshole," Beca playfully said, pretending to reluctantly return the embrace.

They let go of each other when Professor Mitchell and Sheila walked out, bringing their last bag with them for the young couple, to say a final goodbye.

The two then climbed into the taxi together and set out for the airport, sitting in the backseat, hand in hand and with Beca's head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 2: Moved to the City

_One month later…_

"Chloe! Are you done unpacking your clothes yet? Beca should be here any minute!" Aubrey called to the redhead upstairs from just outside the kitchen of their brand new New York City apartment.

When she got no response, she sighed in annoyance and turned towards her girlfriend, asking in an exasperated tone, "Stace, she probably has her earphones in. Can you please go get her?"

"She's been up there for like two hours now. How many clothes does she have?" Stacie asked with an amused expression as she turned away from the dishes she'd been putting away and towards the other woman.

"Honestly, I think she's just on her phone, texting Beca at this point," Aubrey replied with a huff.

The tall strawberry-blonde chuckled and walked over to give the former Bellas' captain a kiss on the cheek, saying, "Now, just remind me, did we adopt a teenage daughter at some point between us getting together and now? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, but I just figured we'd already be married beforehand?"

"Well, I think we might've accidentally skipped that meaningless step, but, you know, who could turn away from those eyes? Especially when they're matched with the infamous Chloe Beale pout," Aubrey played along, taking over her girlfriend's job with the dishes.

Stacie just laughed and commented "kids" in a jokingly exasperated tone, before she made her way upstairs after one more peck to the other woman's cheek. Heading for Chloe's new bedroom, she didn't bother knocking on the door because she knew that if she couldn't even hear Aubrey yelling for her, she wouldn't hear her knocking.

_"Ah, my wonderful girlfriend with the two voices: a capella-singing phenomenon and borderline-psychopathic drill sergeant."_

She rounded the handrail upstairs, turned towards the redhead's room, and smirked in amusement at the sight she was met with.

There, laying on her stomach on top of multiple large piles of folded clothes on her bed, was Chloe with a carefree smile on her face, both of her earbuds in her ears, and her cellphone in her hands.

Stacie crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, having decided to wait and see how long it would take for her friend to notice her presence. She gave her thirty seconds, tops.

She was wrong.

After about a full minute of standing there, waiting and watching, the tall blonde finally grew impatient, so she stepped right in front of Chloe and waved her arms wildly to get her attention.

Nothing.

Stacie huffed, setting her hands onto her hips, and scanned the room for something to snap the ginger back to reality while also getting some entertainment for herself. She stopped and smirked again when her eyes landed on the duvet on the bed. _  
_

_"Never ignore Stacie Conrad, Beale."_

The leggy woman rounded Chloe's bed, still without her noticing, bunched her hands in the end of the blanket, and yanked upwards. She watched Chloe let out a startled shriek, her eyes tripling in size, as she tumbled off of the bed with her clothes, duvet, phone, and earphones, the earbuds falling out on the way down.

Sputtering sounds came from the older girl as her head popped up from under the mess, her flaming hair disheveled and her mouth hanging wide open.

"Bitch!" Chloe shouted as she clumsily shot up with the first object that she could reach in her hand, which was one of her pillows that had fallen with her, and launched it at the taller Bella.

She tried to keep an angry appearance, but it proved to be very difficult when Stacie was letting it all out. In fact, she was laughing so much that she had to use the bed's headboard as a support, completely unaffected by the pillow hitting her in the stomach. It was one of the little decorative ones anyway.

"My bed was made up so nicely and I had all my clothes neatly folded and put into piles and now I have to completely restart because of you, you ass," the redhead tried to reprimand the taller girl, but she couldn't keep the smile off of her own face at the sight of the leggy blonde laughing so hysterically.

"Oh, shut up!" Chloe finally let herself laugh a bit as she threw another pillow at the other girl, which again did not cease her giggling.

All the while, Aubrey was downstairs, listening to everything that was happening upstairs.

Though she rolled her eyes at the two girls' immaturity, she couldn't help the amused smile that spread across her own face at their little antics.

When Stacie finally recollected herself after her fits of laughter, she said, "Sorry, but I was standing there literally forever and you didn't notice at all."

Chloe just jokingly glared at her and asked, "And tapping my shoulder wouldn't have worked? You had to go and ruin all my hard work."

"Excuse me, but one: it didn't really look like you were working too hard when I came up and two: I stood in front of you, waving my arms like a crazy person and I got shit all. Plus, it wouldn't have been as funny," the tall blonde shrugged, "And it worked, didn't it? I have your undivided attention now."

The redhead simply rolled her eyes at the proudly grinning younger girl, mumbling something along the lines of "It wasn't that funny," and started picking up her bedding and remaking her bed. She'll worry about the clothes afterwards.

Stacie quickly started helping the older girl clean up her room and finally told her what she'd meant to in the first place, "Bree was calling for you. She wanted to know if you were done because Beca's coming soon, but that's obviously a no. And I'm also guessing that you already know that because I'm about 90% sure she's the reason your eyes were practically glued to your phone."

When she didn't get a response, the leggy girl looked up and caught a smile, a little lip bite, and faint blush on Chloe's face, which assured Stacie that she was right about her assumptions.

Just then, they heard the doorbell go off and heard Aubrey answer to it.

The two practically jumped down the stairs in excitement about seeing their petite friend.

When they came into view from the ground floor and vice versa though, they found the tall blonde staring incredulously at the small woman who had just walked into their apartment and who had them shocked too.

"Oh my god! Your hair!" Stacie was the first to snap out of the trance, gushing over the shorter girl's new hairstyle, "And is _the Beca 'effin' Mitchell_ actually wearing a dress? I've been trying to get you to wear one for four years."

"Damn, Mitchell. This actually really suits you. Maybe even better than the rest of your 'alternative' wardrobe," Aubrey commented as well, half-teasingly half-genuinely.

Chloe, on the other hand, was too stunned to say anything, except for muster an internal, _"Wow_." _  
_

The smallest of the former Bellas' captains had died her former chocolate-brown hair to a golden blonde with a few highlights. She was also surprisingly wearing a red, sleeveless dress with a brown, leather belt, a jean jacket over top, and a nice scarf.

Although Chloe liked this look on Beca, it looked weird on her. She looked great (she _always_ looked amazing), there was no denying that, but it looked…well, it just didn't look like Beca. That was really the only way to explain it. She looked like a completely different person in this new attire. It made her wonder why she decided to make such a drastic and sudden style change.

"Jamie told me that it would look nice on me. He's also the one who got me the dress as a 'moving in' gift."

_"Question unasked, yet answered."_ Suddenly, Chloe liked the appearance a little less.

"Do you guys like it? Does it look bad? I know it probably looks a little different and so not me, but it was so sweet of him and I didn't wanna disappoint him by not actually wearing it, so I thought you guys would be the best first people to see it on me other than him," Beca nervously rambled.

She had admittedly been pretty apprehensive about dying her hair and wearing the dress. She sort of preferred her natural brunette self over her new blonde self (although it could just be that she was still getting used to the difference). Nevertheless, her boyfriend had convinced her into giving it a try, see how it would turn out, and she was anxious to hear her friends' opinions.

"No, it looks great. You look amazing," Stacie and Aubrey reassured the shorter woman with sincerity.

It was true. She did look really good, but also…out of character.

Sure, she'd gotten over the whole "plaid shirt over a tank top with jeans and combat boots" look between freshman year and senior year, but she'd still mostly stayed with her usual, darker, "alt" style.

That's what they'd gotten so used to seeing on Beca over the last four years. It wasn't that this was a bad development, it was just definitely unexpected.

The fact that it was Jamie who had persuaded Beca into changing her appearance was very interesting in Chloe's opinion, to say the least. She thought the younger woman looked just as stunning before.

Beca was already perfect in her opinion. She wanted to know why he would possibly want to change anything about her. The mere thought seemed absolutely absurd to the ginger.

"Chloe?" Beca's voice snapped the redhead out of her thoughts, "What do you think?"

She'd noticed that she hadn't said a thing since she had walked through the door. She was consequently worried that Chloe didn't like her new look but didn't want to say anything out loud in front of the other two.

After a short moment of carefully choosing her words, the older woman finally replied, "I think you always look beautiful, Becs. You never should or have to worry about that."

It wasn't a lie, but it obviously wasn't all of her opinion about the change.

Beca's cheeks reddened slightly at the compliments—well, mostly Chloe's—and she thanked her friends for their thoughtful words. _"Come on, Mitchell. Pull yourself together!_ "

"Um, so, how was the flight?" she asked in order to divert the topic of conversation less so on her and more so on the other girls once her face returned to its natural colour.

"It wasn't bad. I mean, it was only a two-hour flight. Not gonna lose any sleep from it," Aubrey answered, "How about you? How have you and Jamie been?"

"We've been good, yeah. Now that he's done college too, he's looking for a job, preferably something to do with writing. His dream is to become an author. Once one or both of us find a job, we're hoping to buy a bigger apartment and get all of our stuff out of storage. I had to put all of my instruments in the unit, which is so bad for them," Beca told the girls as they made their way into the living room and got comfortable, "How did you find this place? It's so nice. Way better than his—well, ours."

"My aunt's a real estate agent in Massachusetts and she has a friend here who's also an agent. She found this place for us and got us a pretty good deal. My aunt even had it furnished for us," Aubrey responded.

"That was really generous of her. She has great taste," the small blonde complimented.

"And what about you? Any gigs? Have you booked any meetings with other record labels in the city or does Residual Heat have a studio here?" Chloe asked curiously.

The younger woman seemed slightly hesitant to answer the question, which raised some suspicion and a bit of concern.

"Uhm…well, no. I'm, uh, I'm actually not gonna pursue a music industry career anymore. I'm gonna try live acting, kinda like Chloe," Beca tentatively admitted.

"WHAT?" All three girls were in a state of shock.

Each of the girls, all of the Bellas, everyone who got to know her, have known that Beca had aspired to become— _dreamed_ of becoming—a music producer or just doing something that had to do with creating music of her own for more than just the four years that they'd all known each other.

She'd already started when she had helped and had sung for Snoop Dogg's Winter Wonderland/Here Comes Santa Clause mashup and produced Emily's Flashlight. It was unimaginable to think that she was just giving it up now.

They couldn't help but wonder why on earth she would stop at this point in her life when a legitimate music producer, who had won Grammies, had told her himself that she did in fact have what it takes to not only break into the music industry, but to be a great success in that field.

"Becs, becoming a music producer has always been your dream," Chloe stated as if to remind her.

"Yeah, why would you give up on actually pursuing your dream when you know you could?" Stacie asked.

"Your ex-boss told you you were talented enough. He loved the Christmas mashup and Flashlight. So much so that that's the reason why you'd gotten the job in LA in the first place," Aubrey added.

"Guys, I don't wanna talk about it anymore, okay?" Beca abruptly snapped, quite loudly, growing uncomfortable with all of their questions and reasonings.

The three other women immediately stopped at the small blonde's sudden outburst and only nodded.

"I just wanted to try something different. Maybe something that I could do better at," the shorter woman mumbled, keeping her eyes on the ground as she was embarrassed that she'd shouted at them for really no reason.

They all softly apologized, but Beca interrupted them, "No, I-I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you guys. I know it seems like I've been changing a lot this past month, but I promise I know what I'm doing."

"No, we get it. We didn't mean to push, but it's just that we're really confused. But you know what? If this is what you wanna do now, then go for it, Becs. We'll always support you no matter what," Aubrey responded for the three taller women.

None of them dared to say any more about the highly unusual career change, each one sensing how tense and upset the small blonde had gotten.

It was very abnormal behaviour from Beca. It was quite rare nowadays that she got mad at them and even rarer that she was this edgy around Chloe, Aubrey, and Stacie of all people.

"Thanks for understanding, guys," the former brunette awkwardly said, "So, um, what about you guys? What, uh, what are you guys planning to do to start your careers?"

Chloe, Aubrey, and Stacie decided to put aside the short, strained moment and told Beca about their ideas for starting off. The tension in the room disappeared fairly easily as they all caught up and exchanged stories about stuff that had happened within the past month.

However, there was always still that lingering question as to why Beca had decided to quit making music.

* * *

_A few weeks ago…_

_"Hey, Bec. What's up?" Jamie asked as he walked up to his girlfriend, who was sitting at the desk on her laptop, and hugged her from behind with a kiss on the head._

_The man peered over the highlighted golden hair that his chin was currently lightly resting on and read what was typed out in the search engine._

_"Music producing jobs in New York," Jamie recited._

_"Yeah, since I left Residual Heat and they aren't here in New York City, I'm looking for a new label to apply for," Beca explained, looking up at her boyfriend, who wore an unreadable expression as he scanned over what was on the screen._

_"Cool. Cool," Jamie stated, "So, what are you planning on doing until you get a position?"_

_The small blonde sighed and answered, "Uh, I guess bartending. There's a place a couple blocks away that's hiring."_

_"I guess that works," the dark-haired man said, "I saw this open audition for an off-Broadway play though just down the street. Maybe you'll wanna check it out?"_

_"Why? Chloe's already got a bunch of auditions lined up," Beca responded in confusion._

_"Yeah, I know. I meant for yourself," Jamie told his girlfriend nonchalantly as he walked backwards over to the couch and plopped down with his feet up onto the coffee table, all the while gently pulling her along and placing her sideways on his lab._

_"Uh, Jamie, why would you ever suggest that for me? I've never said I wanted to become an actress," the aspiring-producer said, still completely perplexed by the idea._

_"No, I know, but think about it," the taller brunette reasoned, "If you only audition for live musicals, you'll still be doing something with music and you definitely have the voice for them. It's a shit ton easier to get into than the music industry. And if I one of my future novels were to ever be made into a show, maybe you'd be able to star in it."_

_"What if I want to make the music for this movie adaptation?" Beca challenged with a raised brow._

_"Then you won't get nearly as much recognition. The crew basically never gets recognition," Jamie stated matter-of-factly, "Of course, I'm not saying that they don't deserve it, I'm just saying that they don't get it. Besides, the on-stage stuff looks a lot more fun to do than backstage."_

_"What all of a sudden made you start thinking of me possibly becoming an actress instead of a music producer?" the small blonde questioned._

_"I just thought you could really nail acting," the brown-haired man told her girlfriend, his tone plain and simple._

_"More so than music?" Beca asked, genuinely starting to feel her insecurities rising back up._

"I made all of the arrangements for the Bellas for three years. Arrangements of other people's originals. No, I made a pretty cool Christmas mashup for _the_ Snoop Dogg. I made an awesome song with Emily. Or I helped Emily make an awesome song? Or I helped Emily put music to her awesome song…" _  
_

_"The audition's this coming Saturday at 7:00 am. Just consider it. That's all I'm saying. You never know."_

_Jamie never answered her question._

* * *

After almost three and a half hours of just talking about anything, everything, and nothing and lots of loud laughter, Beca decided she'd better return to her own apartment because she had a dinner date with Jamie soon.

They all said goodbye to the small blonde as she left the other three girls' duplex.

The blonde couple stood up and resumed unpacking and putting their stuff away. Chloe, however, remained sitting, in absolute shock of what they'd just learnt and surprised that neither of the girls were commenting on it at all nor questioning what was going on with Beca.

"Beca looked great, didn't she? Really new and different style for her," Stacie finally spoke, but it wasn't what the redhead had been looking for.

"She did," Aubrey agreed, still not giving Chloe what she was waiting for, "I think this might be good for her. Broadening her horizons."

The ginger knew that they were all wondering what happened with the music to acting decision, yet no one was saying anything, so she had to take initiative.

"Guys!"—that surely got their attention—"Are we really not gonna talk about the music/acting thing?" she demanded incredulously.

"She said she didn't wanna talk about it and she's made her decision, Chlo," the shorter blonde tried to reason with her best friend.

"But why?" Chloe questioned, "Why the hell would Beca, whose life basically revolves around music, suddenly decide she wanted to quit? It makes no sense. And the clothes and the hair! That's not Beca! None of what just happened when she first walked in was Beca!"

"Not the exact same Beca that we knew in college, no, but she's still our Beca, Chlo. She's still our amazing and sarcastic former Bella's captain on the inside. She's just changing what's on the outside and that's her choice," Stacie defended the shorter girl a bit more forcefully than her girlfriend.

Beca was her absolute best friend and she would always accept her and support her, even if it meant going against her other beloved friends like Chloe.

"Are you sure about that?" the redhead mumbled, but Aubrey caught it.

"What do you mean, Chlo?" she asked, trying to make sure that her best friend was still being heard too.

"I mean that I doubt this was actually _her_ choice. You don't think it's a coincidence when this all started?" Chloe stated, then continued when her housemates didn't seem to pick up on her implication, "Jamie."

Stacie suddenly softened and nodded her head as if she just realized something. "Okay, I get it, Chloe."

The leggy blonde approached her shorter friend and placed a comforting hand on her upper arm, saying, "Look, I know it's hard seeing Beca be with someone else, but she's really happy with him and we all have to accept that. Trust me, no one's a bigger Bechloe shipper than me"—the ginger furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at that comment—"and I was really disappointed that she'd moved on too, but we just have to let her do her."

"That's not—" Chloe tried to explain, shaking her head and blushing a tiny bit, but Stacie interrupted her.

"Chloe, trust me. She's in really good hands with Jamie. In more ways than one." The flirty girl winked when she made this comment and it made her girlfriend roll her eyes and smirk and made the flame-haired woman frown in discomfort and slight jealousy at the thought.

"Nice, Stace," Aubrey deadpanned.

"Seriously though," Stacie said, her expression sobering up, "Jamie's a great guy and I think giving her the dress was really just a sweet gesture, nothing more nothing less."

"And the hair?" Chloe pointed out.

"I don't know, Chlo, but I do know that he's been good to her so far and that's all I need," the strawberry-blonde concluded and went back to the dishes.

She was still convinced that her redheaded friend was just picking at the smallest suspicions because she missed being Beca's only romantic love and she couldn't really blame her for it because one: Beca's Beca and two: it's difficult to get over someone.

However, she also knew how much the shorter girl valued Chloe's opinion and it would crush her that she "didn't like" her boyfriend. She didn't want her best friend thinking things won't work out just because of her former huge crush.

Chloe, on the other hand, was absolutely convinced that Jamie wasn't good for Beca. Yes, she was immensely jealous of him, but her crush on her best friend made her very observant of all things to do with her. Unfortunately that included Jamie and what she'd gathered so far was not in his favour.

Nevertheless, he was now very apparently an important part of Beca's life and she was going to have to get used to that.

Still, she couldn't shake the bad feeling she had about Jamie and about this relationship. She supposed all she could do was wait and see how everything played out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 3: Rolling Along

_A couple days later…_

Jamie sat on a bench that looked out at a beach-like area surrounding a part of New York City, with his laptop resting on his thighs, typing away on it.

He took a small break from tapping on the keyboard to develop the rest of his idea as he stared out at the body of water before him. He then returned his focus to the screen and resumed typing. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he wrote, mouthing along to the text.

Unfortunately, his train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the sound of his cellphone's ringtone.

With a sigh, he took the device out of his pocket and checked the caller ID on the screen. He gave the phone a confused expression when he didn't recognize the number.

Nevertheless, he answered the call and tilted his head to keep it in place on his shoulder and against his ear as he attempted to continue typing. "Yeah, hello?"

_"Hello, is this Jamie Wellerstein?" a mature, woman's voice replied._

"Yeah, this is Jamie Wellerstein," the young man answered, still barely focusing on the conversation because he was eager to keep working on his writing.

_"Hello, Mr. Wellerstein. I'm Linda Whitfield of the JRB literary agency. I have something important to discuss with you. Do you have a moment?"_ the woman asked.

This seemed to capture Jamie's attention as a look of surprise crossed his face then turned to another expression of confusion.

"Oh, okay. S-sure," he replied, with slight uncertainty.

_"Perfect. So, I've heard you're an up-and-coming writer with some real potential,"_ the woman started.

"Wait, who—who's—who told you?" the brunette asked, taking the phone back into his hand, his heart race starting to pick up in anticipation.

_"Well, I received your manuscript from—"_ she went to explain, but was interrupted by an increasingly excited Jamie.

"Wait, wait. You didn't—You read-you read my manuscript?" the young man stumbled over his words, trying to fully understand what was about to happen, "My—how did you—"

_"Professor Atler from the University of New York sent it to me,"_ Miss Whitfield answered, not too bothered by all of the interruptions and stuttering.

It'd been quite a while since she had sought out a new client this young, but she could still remember the overjoyed reactions and this was just another one of them. Nothing she couldn't handle. Besides, she understood how big an opportunity this was for him and was happy she was playing her part in it.

"Oh. Oh. Yeah, Professor Atler." Jamie recalled his creative writing professor had a certain admiration for all of his assignments.

He made a quick mental note to remember to write him a _very_ nice thank-you letter to his former professor for the obvious recommendation.

_"Yes, was this overstepping any boundaries or—"_ the woman questioned.

"N-n-n-n-n-no, no. No, that's-that's-that's," the brunette stuttered, quickly placing his laptop onto the bench beside his bag so that he could stand up and let out some of the anxious energy over this conversation. "That's great. That's, uh, that's—heh, that's—that is really just a second draft, you know? It's-it's-it's a work-in-progress. It's, uh, it's getting there though. It's—"

_"Now, now. Don't sell yourself too short. I submitted it to Random House Publishing Group and they seemed to have really enjoyed it,"_ she informed him sweetly.

Jamie swore his heart stopped for a second there.

"I'm-I'm sorry, who read—R-Random House read it? Oh my—that's, um"—the brunette was practically over the moon as he started hopping up and down a bit as silently as possible—"Okay, that's…That's great. That's—holy shit."

The small profanity slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it as he tried to calm himself down.

"I'm sorry. Um, that's, um—" Jamie honestly couldn't think of the right words at that moment. The excitement over the entire situation was overwhelming him.

_"Are you okay to continue? Would you like me to call back in a few moments so that you can let everything sink in?"_ the woman offered, understanding the shock and joy he was probably feeling.

"N-n-n-n-no! No, no, no!" the young man panicked and almost yelled, however he somehow kept his voice level.

Miss Whitfield had to hold back a chuckle at Jamie's failure to keep calm and said, _"Okay. So, as I said before, I'm with the JRB literary agency and I am ready to offer my services to you."_

"Okay, yes," Jamie agreed to show that he was fully paying attention.

_"Assuming being an author is what you want,_ " the agent added, even though the answer was obvious.

"Yes," the brunette repeated.

_"Of course, and you're only twenty-three, right?"_ Miss Whitfield confirmed, getting a pen and notepad ready.

"Yes, I'm twenty-three. I'm twen—" he responded with a breathy laugh, still unable to relax.

_"Great. Now, you didn't finish your manuscript, right?"_ the woman asked.

"No, I didn't finish, but whatever. That's, uh—" the young man responded, not wanting to discuss his rough, incomplete work. _  
_

_"No, no. That's perfect. We'll start with that then. We could contact Random House and see about the possibility of getting it published once you finish. My office is in New York, it would be best that we talk more in person. Do you think you could come in within the next few days or so?"_ Miss Whitfield asked.

"Yes, I can meet you. Uh," Jamie paused for a moment to think of a good time to suggest for the meeting, but quickly continued, "New York?"

_"Yes. I was told you're here in New York City, yes?"_ The agent wanted to make sure that they wouldn't have him travelling all over the place for this meeting.

"Yes, I'm in New York. Uh, yeah. Yes, I live here," he replied with a short laugh, mainly to put himself at ease.

_"Okay, great. So, you could make it here fairly easily? It isn't difficult to find, it's the big building with the white base and red bricks on Canal Street. It also has American flags hanging in between some windows,_ " Miss Whitfield told the young man.

"Okay, yes. I mean, I could come today," Jamie eagerly offered.

_"Oh, today? Actually, that'd be great. We could sign all of the papers and then give Random House a call all today,"_ the woman suggested.

"Great! Great. Great, great, great," Jamie repeated the word "great" five times and internally reprimanded himself for doing such an awkward thing, "Oh my god!"

_"Perfect. I'll see you soon,"_ Miss Whitfield stated, pleased with how well this conversation went.

"Uh, okay. Yes, I-I will see you there. I am so, so looking…looking forward to meeting you, Miss Whitfield," the brunette told his new agent politely.

_"And I you. I will be here when you arrive. Just go straight past the staircase and you'll find an elevator. I'm on the fourth floor, office 4C."_ the woman said, all the while Jamie repeated "okay" to every step, _"And please, dear, call me Linda."_

"Okay, Linda," he laughed awkwardly, "We're like friends, Linda."

This time, Miss Whitfield didn't hold back the light chuckle at the young man's quirkiness and said, _"Okay. I'll see you soon."_

"Uh, um, okay. Great…That's-that's fine. Okay, bye…Bye," Jamie continued to talk even though his agent had already hung up.

"What?" he asked incredulously to no one in particular as he looked at his phone, then up at the beautiful beach.

He still couldn't believe what had just happened. He actually just got an agent and Random House Publishing Group was interested in him. He was finally on his way to becoming a real author! How much better could this day get?

Ah! There's something.

Jamie immediately pressed on his first speed-dial number and waited for the person to answer.

"Hi," his girlfriend's voice came through the phone.

She had just been mixing music (even though it was really just a hobby now. A _very beloved_ hobby) to pass the time and calm her nerves before she had to go to her first ever audition.

Beca had been in the middle of scrolling through her library to find some good songs to mix together when her ringtone had sounded. She had smiled when she had picked the device up and had seen his name pop up. She'd quickly answered and happily greeted her boyfriend.

"Hey, so I was thinking and I think we're ready for a bigger apartment now," the brunette told the small blonde as he packed up his bag and mounted his bicycle.

"Really? Jamie, what happened?" Beca could tell by the tone of his voice that he had some pretty good news.

She heard her boyfriend chuckle and reply, "I'll tell you later, alright? Just-just, uh, find an apartment and I love you."

"I—Jamie? Jamie, wait. Jamie," the former brunette said with a breathy chuckle, but it was too late. He had already hung up.

She didn't know what he was so happy about, but it must've been amazing from how happy he had sounded. She swore this crazy guy was going to be the death of her.

* * *

Once Jamie arrived at the JRB office building, he parked his bike and locked it to the nearby bike rack.

Before he could enter the building however, he felt the need to recollect himself and relax a bit. He was basically guaranteed a deal with Linda, considering everything she had said over the phone (she was already going on about finishing his manuscript, getting him a publishing deal, etc.), but he was still incredibly nervous yet excited to finally be getting the opportunity to achieve his lifelong dream.

When he was sure he was fine, Jamie tried to seem confident but not arrogant as he strode into the building and followed the agent's directions to find her office. It was fairly easy as she'd given him very clear instructions and he soon found himself standing in front of a glass door with a sign that said _"Linda Whitfield Literary Agent"_.

The brunette could see Linda immersed in a packet of papers on her desk, so she hadn't noticed him yet. He used this as a chance to take a few deep, calming breaths, then gingerly knocked on the glass.

The agent's head lifted and she smiled warmly as she gestured for him to come in.

"Hi, Linda. I'm Jamie Wellerstein. We just talked on the phone," Jamie introduced himself as he shyly walked in and carefully closed the door behind him.

"Ah, yes"—Linda gestured towards the chair opposite her very organized desk, which the brunette sat onto—"Thank you for coming in on such short notice. Please have a seat. We have much to discuss."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Beca sat on a chair in the waiting room for her audition. She had just done the singing audition and she thought she did pretty well. Although, that had been the first time in her entire life that she didn't naturally connect with a song, so she hoped her performance hadn't appeared too forced.

Now, she was on the phone with her agent, who did not exactly sound too enthusiastic about hearing from her.

"Hey, Mike, it's Beca. Uh—" Beca started the conversation on an attempted high note.

_"Beca. You doing well?_ " the agent politely asked but in a fairly disinterested tone.

"Yeah, how are you?" the small blonde returned.

_"Good,"_ Mike replied curtly, obviously already bored with her call.

"Uh—" Beca attempted to make light conversation with her agent, but she didn't even get a single word out before he cut her off.

_"So is this gonna take a long time or something? Because I'm really busy,_ " the man quite rudely interrupted.

"Yeah, no. Just two quick things. I'm not gonna talk your ear off. Uh, um, I just wanted to know if you got the monthly feedback from my acting coach? He emailed it to me last week and I forwarded it to you," the tiny actress got straight to the point as she could hear the impatience in his voice.

_"Yeah,"_ Mike sighed out, _"Yeah, I got it. It was all positive and he said you have potential so that's a good sign."_

Well, at least she got some sort of a compliment out of him.

"Thank you. Yeah, it's…really exciting, um—" Beca responded. _  
_

_"Yeah, so you said you had two things to say to me? Or is that it?_ " the agent once again tersely interjected, wanting nothing more than to finish this conversation so that he could continue with his plans for the rest of his day.

"Ye—n-no, the second thing was just…" Beca had to stop to gather her thoughts before continuing without sounding kind of pathetic and pitiable, "I-if you have…anything you wanna send me in on, I'm sort of suddenly…free this summer and, like, just available, so…um…"

_"Okay. Well, here's the thing. So, you're auditioning for a bunch of stuff, right? Basically anything you can find."_ The way Mike said it made her feel like she was a little more than desperate.

Nevertheless, the small blonde tried to ignore that as she answered, "Yes."

Every time she spoke to her agent, she tried to sound enthusiastic (which was very out-of-character for her, but that just really showed how much of an ass he was about her career). However, it proved to be difficult with Mike's complete lack of care about whether or not she actually succeeded or not.

She somehow did it though. Well, most of the time.

_"Yeah, so just keep working on it and, uh, we'll talk about this summer once you get a job because you've gotta start building up some experience, okay, kid? That's what people are looking for: experienced actors and actresses not total newbie_ s." The man was…slightly harsh and a bit condescending with his advice (this was actually one of his nicest comments towards her).

However, he seemed to know what to do in this field, so Beca never complained about it. Well, to his face at least.

"Yeah. As soon as I'm doing something in the city, I'll-I'll let you know," the short woman obediently agreed.

_"Yeah, okay. Well, I've got some things I need to get done. I've got a meeting with another client soon,"_ Mike started to eagerly wrap up their conversation.

"Uh huh, uh—" the small blonde said.

_"Sorry, but I have to get going,"_ the agent stated, his tone a bit rushed.

"Okay. N-n-no, n-n-no. I understand. Okay, thanks. Yeah, that wasn't—that wasn't too painful, was it?" Beca jokingly asked.

_"Yeah, just remember what I said,"_ the man reminded his client, seemingly ignoring her attempt at a joke.

"Right, okay," the tiny actress said. _  
_

_"And good luck and all that. Bye now,"_ Mike hurriedly told her, finally reaching the end of their call.

"Um…okay. Bye, Mike," Beca weakly offered with a small smile, though her agent had already hung up on her, making her smile slowly leave her face.

She let her hand drop into her lap and stared at the phone. Barely even a minute-long phone call (exactly 53 seconds). Unfortunately, that was how most (basically all) of their meetings played out.

Beca pulled her bottom lip over her top as she contemplated why she had hired Mike as her agent in the first place, when one of the men running the auditions walked in.

"Okay, ladies. Uh, Mariah, Taylor, Rachel, Lauren, and Sofia. Follow me to the dance audition," the man listed the girls who moved on, then politely addressed the remaining girls, "And everyone else, thank you very much."

Beca almost robotically slung her purse over her shoulder and left the building, refusing to show any signs of the disappointment and shame she was feeling at that moment.

And she thought she'd done well in the first part of the audition. Guess not.

* * *

That evening, Beca plopped down onto the couch in Jamie's (and hers) apartment.

She was tired from her audition. Yes, she didn't actually have to do much since she didn't even move on to the dance audition, but she was still tired. That plus her agent's complete indifference regarding her career, she was just mentally and emotionally drained for the day.

She didn't like this feeling of rejection and disappointment (who would?). It was all reminding her of when Aubrey used to be the aca-dictator of the Bellas and would dismiss every single idea of hers or of the beginning of her time as a Residual Heat intern or of when she was having a serious producers' block under the pressure of her old boss.

However, she knew it was a part of almost every job in life, so she'd have to get used to it. She just wondered how Chloe stuck it out with an always-beaming expression.

_"Maybe it's because she actually…because Chloe's a much stronger person than me. Yeah, that…"_

"So, what happened this afternoon that made you so happy?" the small blonde curiously inquired, stretching her legs out to rest on the small, wooden coffee table.

She really needed a distraction from her pretty crappy day and what better way than to listen to her joyful boyfriend and his amazing stories, either real or fictional.

"What makes you think I'm happy? Maybe I was gonna tell you that I met someone new and we should see other people," Jamie teased as he sat down next to her, still with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Wha—Fuck you!" Beca replied with wide eyes and a grin, playfully punching her boyfriend in the shoulder.

The male brunette dramatically clutched his arm as if she had actually hurt him.

In response, the short woman just rolled her eyes in amusement at the young man and shook her head in faux disappointment, ever-present smirk gracing her lips, as she got up to get herself a glass of water.

Jamie simply placed his puppy dog look onto his face as if to apologize, following her into the small kitchen, which earned him a joking glare of annoyance.

The couple found it amusing how they could so easily read each other's expressions and seemingly have a conversation using only them.

"Seriously, Jamie. What's up?" the small blonde practically whined, wanting to know why he was in such a good mood.

"Okay, okay. So I was sitting on a bench, working on my manuscript, and then I got a call and guess who it was," Jamie started, but he was so excited that he continued without even giving her a chance to answer, "Linda Whitfield from the JRB Literary Agency! She offered to represent me! We had a meeting today and we called Random House Publishing Group! They offered me a publishing deal, Bec!"

The brunette's voice had risen in volume from the joy he was feeling.

"Oh my god! Jamie! That's amazing!" Beca congratulated her boyfriend, giving him a celebratory hug.

She then let out a surprised squeal that turned into a laugh as she hadn't expected him to pick her up and spin her around. The apartment was instantly filled with both of their laughter.

"I know right! It just feels so incredible! I mean, I just expected it ten years later, but I never imagined my career as an author would start so early on. Seriously, how much luckier could a guy get? I found a woman I love"—Jamie gently nuzzled Beca's soft hair, which earned him a small smile—"and I found an agent who loves me already."

"That's awesome, Jamie. I'm seriously so proud of you," the small blonde told him sincerely.

"And you know what?" Jamie continued, "Things might get bumpy, but you just have to remember that some people analyze every detail"—the brunette started to sound like he was subconsciously reciting a quote, which Beca found to be adorable—"Some people stall when they can't see the trail. Some people freeze out of fear that they'll fail. Some people can't find success with their art."

That one inadvertently put salt onto a wound, but nevertheless Beca kept smiling at him, although a bit faltered.

The brunette must've noticed though because he added, "Some people never feel love in their heart"—this earned him a soft, loving smile that time—"And some people can't tell the two things apart, but I just keep rolling on. And maybe I can't follow through, but what else am I supposed to do? Just give up? No. Never. That's not what Jamie Wellerstein does when it comes to things he loves."

"That's beautiful, Jamie. No wonder this agent and publishing group are so interested in you. You really have a gift with words. You should totally put that in your book somewhere," the short actress whole-heartedly complimented her boyfriend.

She really was genuinely so proud of him for starting on his way to achieving success in his dream job.

"Thank you so much, baby. You have no idea how much you saying that means to me. That's why I told you to find a new apartment, a better apartment. If I manage to write a successful book, we'll be able to afford it. So, did you find a good one?" the brunette asked, excited about the idea of moving out of his small apartment and into a better one for himself and his girlfriend. One that they could truly call both of their own.

"Um, no. I'm sorry. I didn't get around to it. I had an audition today," Beca told him, her smile faltering a little as she was reminded of the audition she'd completely failed.

"Oh, right! How'd it go?" Jamie eagerly questioned the shorter woman.

He was so sure she got it. She was absolutely amazing. How could she not have?

"Um, I didn't get the part," the small blonde guardedly answered.

She was still embarrassed and disappointed and she really didn't want to ruin her boyfriend's good mood. Obviously though, Jamie saw right through her indifferent façade. He could tell she was more disheartened by this than she let on.

"Come here," the taller of the two almost whispered as he held his hand out for her to take. He gently pulled her back towards the couch and brought her close to him to cuddle.

"Don't worry, Bec. I believe in you and I'll always be by your side to support and love you through this," the brunette comforted his girl with a light kiss on her shoulder.

"Thank you, baby. The same goes for you," Beca replied, turning her head to give him a small peck on the lips, then back to rest comfortably on his chest, "Promise."

"I know. I love you, Beca."

"I love you too, Jamie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 4: Moving Too Fast

_Two weeks later…_

Beca excitedly entered her soon-to-be apartment on 73rd street for the first time and looked around. She was already planning everything out in her head. Jamie was going to love this.

Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey followed closely behind, exploring the place too. They had to admit, it was pretty nice. The only downside they all agreed upon was the creaky rolling door. Guess it'll make it harder for burglars to slip in unnoticed though.

"So, I was thinking Jamie's desk could go right at the front because I know he'd love staring out the window every time he sits down to write. The couch could go against this wall right here and right beside it our little dinning set," Beca thought aloud as she motioned with her hands, "A big queen-sized bed right in the middle of that room there. What do you guys think so far?"

"Wait, what about your desk? You need one too for your music equipment and instruments, right?" Chloe questioned, subtly pointing out the unfairness there.

"Well, yeah, but mine can go just right over there in the bedroom by the other window in the back," the small blonde assured her friend that she'd have her own workplace too.

"Sounds great, Becs," Stacie sincerely told the shorter woman, elusively stopping the redhead from trying to take another shot at Jamie.

"Yeah, I think you two will really enjoy living here together," Aubrey added.

"Well, thank _you_ for getting me in touch with your aunt's friend. Never would've found this place without her," Beca replied.

The taller blonde simply shrugged in response, stating that it was no big deal.

"Hey, Becs, speaking of you two, where is Jamie?" Chloe piped up.

She wasn't too impressed that he didn't show up for something so important. She knew that _she_ would've dropped everything in the blink of an eye to pick out her new home with Beca. To her credit though, she didn't let it show. Well, too much. Enough for her crush not to notice but not enough for her other two friends to miss it.

"He had a meeting with his new agent, but he wishes he could be here. He told me to send him pictures and we'd talk about furniture placement and everything later," Beca answered nonchalantly.

She did wish that her boyfriend was with her to see their new apartment together for the first time, but she understood that he would just be getting busier (and hopefully she will too) and they'll have to work around it.

"Becs, are you sure you guys aren't moving too fast? I mean, moving in with each other's a huge step in a relationship, especially one that's just like over 4-months-old," the redhead cautiously commented, and quickly added to try to sound less critical, "I just—I know that relationships can fall apart when moving too far too quickly. I just wanna make sure that your relationship is stable enough to start taking big steps like this."

"Thanks, Chlo. I appreciate it, but don't worry. Jamie…he's special. And what we have is special. Trust me, this is gonna be good," the tiny actress reassured her best friend with an absent-minded, head-over-heels smile on her face.

Chloe simply nodded, trying not to look too wounded by Beca's sincerely loving words for another person, and continued looking around, still a little disappointed in Jamie for not being there for this.

Sure, she'll admit that she was being a bit hard on him but, as her best friend, she was just trying to look out for Beca as always and she truly believed that she deserved the best person in the world. And so far, he wasn't exactly passing with flying colours.

She wished she herself could be that person for Beca, but presently she wasn't and Jamie was supposed to be. Emphasis on _supposed to_.

And though she might've fooled Beca, nothing got passed Stacie and Aubrey when it came to these kinds of things.

Both of them had noticed how judgemental Chloe was being about Jamie and they just hoped that she could keep the jealousy in and at least pretend to be supportive of their relationship. If she couldn't, well…things will get much more complicated than necessary.

* * *

It was three days later when Jamie finally found the time to help move their things into the new apartment. However, by then Beca, with the help of her best friends and two moving company workers, had already moved a mass majority of their stuff from the storage unit into their new place. All they had left was Jamie's bike, the rest of their clothes, Beca's mixing equipment and laptop, and a few of her vinyl records and CDs, just from the old, now-empty apartment.

Luke had stayed at the radio station after he had graduated. He'd even bought the station from the former owner as she was retiring. During Beca's junior year, he had had to go back to London to help his brother with his wife's pregnancy all of a sudden, so he'd promoted her to manager and made her boss for the year. As a thank-you, she had gotten to pick out her top ten favourite records and have them, no charge. Those were the only ones of the few she'd kept that she still owned.

"You know, I've always dreamed of writing like the high and mighty and now I'm the subject of a bidding war," Jamie said with a disbelieving chuckle as he brought out a crate of records and CD's, the last item left in their former apartment, "But honestly, I'm glad we're going with Random House. I would've chosen them instead of any other publishing group anyway. The fact that they were the first to reach out to me still blows my mind though."

"I'm so excited for you, Jamie. You're finally getting your big break," Beca told her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his neck after he placed the crate into the trunk.

Jamie circled his arms around the small blonde's waist in return and gave her a loving kiss. When he pulled away, the brunette man closed the trunk with one hand and easily lifted Beca onto the trunk door.

Jamie lovingly smiled up at the girl and continued, "Not only that, but I've also found my personal Aphrodite."

The short actress smiled back at her boyfriend, but then he teasingly added, "Linda's a real goddess."

To that, he received a light shove away from Beca and a playful glare as she hopped back down onto the ground.

"Oh come on, babe. I was just kidding. I'm sorry. I was kidding. I love only you and you know that," Jamie quickly apologized to his girlfriend, "Besides, Linda's really nice, but I think she's just a little out of my age range."

"Should you really be calling your brand new agent old? You know, you-you just got her. Don't wanna lose her already since she obviously means so much to you," the small blonde jokingly asked, climbing into the driver's seat of the car.

"Hey now, I never said she was old. You did. I just said she was out of my age range. I could've meant that I'm too old for her," Jamie played along as he too got into the vehicle.

"Oh, so what? You're insinuating I've actually been dating a 75-year-old man?" Beca questioned with a raised eyebrow and a little smirk playing at her lips.

"I've got a _really_ good makeup artist. I'll give you her number. You could maybe use a little something—" the young writer started painting somewhere random on the former brunette's.

However, he didn't get very far before he was watching her jaw drop as an indignant gasp came out from her wide-open mouth and he was being punched right in the arm.

"Hey, hey, hey! Both hands on the wheel. I've just started my career. I don't need it to end prematurely because my girlfriend was too busy breaking my bicep instead of controlling the car," Jamie joked, rubbing his arm as if Beca had gravely hurt him.

"You really think I could break your arm with just one punch?" the small blonde arched an eyebrow at her boyfriend's over-dramatics.

"You're right. Your tiny, dainty hands couldn't actually do any damage," the brunette man nonchalantly agreed, baiting the actress.

"Um, excuse me? I did tell you about the Tonehanger I punched in my freshman year of college, right? He went right down to the ground," Beca defensively reminded him.

"Right, and you said he had just asked you to hit him again. Must not have done it hard enough the first time," Jamie teasingly critiqued her punching strength.

"No, it was because he was a weird creep and he legitimately begged to be hit again," the short actress corrected her boyfriend.

"Well, maybe he wouldn't have needed another punch if you'd just done it hard enough the first time," the brunette man repeated, "And besides, why are you trying to prove how good a left hook you have when your initial argument was that you _couldn't_ break my arm with a single punch?"

The small blonde didn't respond. She knew she had lost. Instead, she just light-heartedly rolled her eyes and focused on driving. Only then, did she realize that he had tricked her. That sneaky bastard.

"I'll take that as a win," the writer smugly declared with a satisfied grin.

Beca resisted the urge to bite back with a sarcastic comment and settled with another eye roll and a slight shake of her head, an ever-present smirk on her face.

Their banter was always the highlight of both their days. Being able to playfully mock and tease each other without either one getting offended was always fun. They loved that they could joke about anything with each other but still knew neither of them were serious.

* * *

The next day, Jamie came bursting into the new apartment, seeming very excited. He was holding a letter in his hands and almost walked into the door because he was rereading the words on the paper to make sure he wasn't just seeing things.

"Beca! Beca, guess what, babe!" the dark-brown-haired man exclaimed as he rushed inside, "The Atlantic Monthly's already printing my first chapter! We just got 2,000 bucks without me having to rewrite one single word!"

"Oh my god! Actually?" Beca replied with as much excitement as she threw her arms around his neck and he lifted her up into a big, celebratory hug.

Meanwhile, Aubrey was bossing the two moving guys around about where _exactly_ the sofa was going, Stacie was trying to calm her girlfriend down, and Chloe was trying not to pay attention to the couple. Not that she couldn't pay attention to Beca. This was much harder to get used to than she'd initially thought.

* * *

It took Beca, Jamie, Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey about a day and a half more to unpack and put away all of the boxes and containers after having gotten everything inside.

The couple had tried to pay them for all of their hard work, but the three had insisted that this was a favour amongst very close friends and had refused.

Now, the four Bellas were hanging out in Beca's new living room. The apartment was still much smaller than the taller three's, so they had to move the dining room chairs over in front of the couch so that they could all sit together.

"Hey, isn't Jamie's first meeting with his new publicist tomorrow?" Aubrey curiously asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is. He's been out this entire time getting a new suit and a new haircut," Beca informed with a little smitten smile.

"Ooh! Bet you just can't wait to see him when he gets back, huh, Becs?" Stacie teased her short friend in a flirty tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," the small blonde responded but with a slight blush tainting her cheeks and her eyes becoming a bit unfocused at the mental image of her boyfriend's new look.

She quickly shook her head though and re-concentrated onto the conversation. "Anyway, how's the job hunting going for you guys?

"Well, I found a position at this cute, little dance studio downtown. I'm gonna be teaching the little ones and I'm so excited. I can't wait to see their little faces light up when they get a move down right," the strawberry-blonde enthusiastically shared.

"Aww, that's great, Stace. You're an awesome dancer and you're great with kids," Beca sincerely complimented her best friend, "That's a good sign for you Posen, huh?"

"You're joking now, but I won't be, Mitchell, once you become the aunt to our future little ones," Aubrey playfully returned with a wink directed at her girlfriend, which was responded to with a quick and flirty air kiss, "I'm still looking. Nothing's really popping out to me yet."

"Hey, you know, I think Jamie told me that Random House has been pretty bad with getting back to him lately because they had to let someone go recently and everything's been a little disorganized. I think it was his new publisher's assistant. Maybe Jamie could mention you during their meeting tomorrow?" the shortest Bella suggested.

"Hm. A publisher's assistant…Doesn't sound like the worst job ever. And I'd get to know Jamie a little better. So far the one who knows him best out of us three is Stacie and that's not really saying much since they've only talked a couple times," the scholarly blonde pondered, "Yeah, sure. See if he minds."

"Yeah, no problem," Beca said, "And what about you, Chlo? Got some good auditions coming up?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. There's a couple I'm pretty excited for. I mean, I'm just excited I'm gonna be doing what I love, you know"—okay, so there may have been a subtle "hint hint" in there—"What about you? How's acting turning out for Beca Mitchell?"

The golden-blonde pursed her lips, hesitant to respond. How was she going to answer when her so-called career was failing because she knew this wasn't really her passion?

Thank God for Jamie's timing however. Just as she was about to make something up, her boyfriend walked into the apartment, his hair trimmed and slightly slicked to the side. He was also wearing a brand new, light brown suit over a crisp, white button-up with a nice, dark grey tie.

"Evening, ladies," Jamie greeted his girlfriend in a charming voice as he smoothly spun around, intentionally showing off his new clothes, then winked at Beca in a flirty manner.

"Oh. No. Jamie, baby, it's-it's 12:30 in the afternoon, sweetie. Please don't be one of those people," Beca corrected the man, clearly embarrassed by yet adoring his crazy quirkiness, as she walked over to him and lovingly placed her hands onto his shoulders, "Anyway, you look amazing, Jamie. Very handsome and professional."

"Yeah. You look great. Really nice look," the three other women agreed, although Chloe quite half-heartedly.

"Thank you, thank you," Jamie responded as he made his way to the bedroom to quickly change into something more comfortable and to carefully hang up his new suit, "So, what have you girls been up to?"

"Oh. Just talking," the tiny actress replied, "Um, do you think you could do Aubrey and me a favour though tomorrow?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. What's up?" the new author happily responded.

"Well, I still haven't found a job and Becs told us that your new publisher's assistant recently got fired. I was wondering if you could possibly mention that I'm interested in the position?" Aubrey politely and professionally asked.

"Yeah, of course, Aubrey. I'd love to work with you. I'll make sure to tell them. Definitely," Jamie eagerly answered, hoping this would set a good impression of himself with his girlfriend's best friends.

"Seriously? Thank you so much, Jamie," the blonde joyfully responded, turning towards the tallest Bella in excitement.

"Thanks, Jamie. That's really nice of you," Stacie added, grateful that he was going out of his way for her girlfriend.

"Anything for Beca's best friends," the dark-brown-haired man replied as he came back out of the bedroom and sat down onto the couch beside his significant other and wrapping an arm around her.

Poor Chloe was sitting on the sofa as well and was forced to sit next to her crush and her boyfriend. She was slowly starting to get used to their relationship though. Slowly but surely. Still didn't mean she liked it though.

* * *

_The next day…_

Jamie excitedly stepped out of the cab and strode towards the Random House Publishing Group building in an outward confident manner. He entered the building and crammed himself into the crowded elevator behind an older yet shorter man with glasses.

As he watched the numbers ascend on the little screen overtop the doors, his heart rate started following them. He suddenly started feeling a bit panicked and sort of rushed and hurried. He wasn't even twenty-four yet and he was getting his first, official book published by one of the best companies in the New York City.

It felt like he was vastly outmaneuvered and outclassed in his current situation, but he was also so happy that it was mostly overshadowing the rest of those anxious feelings.

The elevator dinged as it finally arrived at his floor. He awkwardly shuffled around until he was out and walked up to the very modern-looking, sleek, white receptionist's desk. Sitting behind it was a woman with short blonde hair in a light blue button-up talking to a man wearing matching clothes and glasses and holding a clipboard standing beside her.

The presumed receptionist must have caught him timidly approaching in her peripheral vision as she redirected her attention towards him and asked in a practiced tone, "Hi. Can I help you?"

"Yes. Hi, I'm looking for Alise Michaels. I was—" Jamie began, but was cut off by the man.

"Mr. Wellerstein?" he questioned.

"Yes," the dark-brown-haired writer confirmed, not at all bothered by the interruption as he offered his hand to shake with the other man's.

"Hey, I'm Dave," he politely introduced himself, earning a greeting in return, "Alise's temporary assistant. Let me show you the way."

The assistant gestured with his hand down a hallway, prompting the new author to follow him.

"Oh, great," Jamie said as he did as he was wordlessly told to.

They walked a little ways until an area with rows of bookcases.

"Just go all the way until the end and hang a left. It's straight ahead after that," Dave instructed the other man.

"Ah. Thank you so much," the writer responded and just as the assistant was about to walk away, he quickly stopped him and asked, "Oh, hey. You're the temporary assistant because you're still looking for someone to fill in the position, right?"—he got a positive answer—"Great, because I know the perfect person for that job. Her name is Aubrey Posen. She used to run her own retreat camp in Atlanta, Georgia and she's looking for a good job here in the city."

"Uh, well, that's actually not my call to make, but you can mention it to Alise. I'm sure she'd love to meet your friend. Just leave this woman's full name and number or email and I'm sure things will go well," Dave advised.

"Okay, great. Thank you for everything," Jamie said as the assistant started to leave.

"No problem, man. I'll see you around maybe," the assistant responded.

"Yeah, sure. See you," the writer called back, then turned towards the glass door of the office.

He took one more relaxing breath as he straightened out his blazer, then headed for his new publisher's office. As soon as he came into her view, Alise rushed over to open the door for him and greet him, "Hi."

Alise Michaels was a very attractive, younger than he had initially thought, brunette woman. She was much closer to his age than her voice had led on during the phone call. She'd sounded maybe late thirties during the phone meetings he'd had with her and his new agent. She also seemed to have great manners from what he'd just observed.

"Hello," Jamie politely returned as he held out his hand for a handshake, "Hi. Jamie. Jamie Wellerstein."

"Jamie Wellerstein," the publisher replied, taking his outstretched hand into both of hers, "Alise Michaels. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you. Take a seat."

"Wow! This is great! Thank you!" the new author responded as he sat down into one of the guest chairs, facing the woman's desk.

"Uh, would you like a glass of water?" Alise customarily offered as she gestured towards the tray of glasses and a pitcher of iced water on the bureau behind her desk.

"Yes," Jamie answered, "Thank you so much for having me."

"Everyone in the office is absolutely thrilled to meet you," the publisher complimented as she poured the cups of water for the both of them.

"Everybody has been so nice from, you know, just walking in," the dark-brown-haired man commented with a nervous laugh.

"Well, everyone's a huge fan of the book," Alise told her new client.

"This is a beautiful—I've never even been this high up before," Jamie awkwardly noted, referring to the very nice, polished office that he was currently sitting in.

The publisher laughed at the young writer's words and responded, "It's a great office, yes. Thank you."

"Yeah," Jamie agreed, appreciating that she wasn't mocking him for her awkwardness and nerves.

_"Wow. She's really nice."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 5: Take Your Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, firstly, I had to rewrite some of the lyrics of The Schmuel Song and I would just like to apologize in advance. I love that song and I'm not a songwriter, so if I ruined it for any of you like I kind of did for myself, I'm sorry. Honestly though, it was the best I could do to make the song match the story while also keeping a little bit of its original flow.
> 
> Secondly, this may seem like a crappy or rushed chapter, but the challenge was just with, you know, the song being included in there and all of the interruptions in between with their actions and dialogue and stuff, so yeah, but I hope it's good.
> 
> Anyway, on with the story and I hope you enjoy this adorable Cathy(Beca)/Jamie fluff back when he wasn't a cheating asshole and they were completely in love.

_December 2015, Beca and Jamie's apartment_

There was only two days left until Christmas and Jamie had been basically running around the apartment, finishing up with all of the decorations.

He didn't usually do much to celebrate Christmas due to his Jewish roots. However, he knew that Beca did celebrate Christmas and this would be their first together and her first in New York, so he wanted to make sure that it was extra special for her.

Speak of the devil.

Jamie was just folding the last flap of the intricate opening on the gift box of his special present for his girlfriend when he heard the creaky door slide open, the old, slightly rusted wheels creating quite a ruckus.

The writer quickly left the box alone and stood up in time to watch Beca close the door with quite a loud slam. Louder than he'd thought capable for such a tiny person who usually had a pretty difficult time pushing the heavy door open and closed.

This was not a good sign.

"Hey! How're you doing, babe?" Jamie happily greeted his girlfriend as she threw her purse, coat, and beret onto the ground.

She didn't respond to the dark-brown-haired man as she continued through the living room towards their bedroom, shedding her jacket and tossing it to the ground as well as she went.

She was really not in the mood for…well, anything right now and that unfortunately included her boyfriend.

"Uh, not a very good day at the bar, huh?" Jamie asked as he continued to rearrange a couple Christmas decorations in the living room, despite being ignored once again, "Sorry. Did you at least, uh, get some good tips? The, uh—"

He was cut off by a loud crash, like an ornament falling to the ground and breaking, and an even louder, "Shit!"

"Oh," the young author said, then awkwardly and hesitantly added, "You look—You look really nice…"

This time, he got an actual response, but it definitely was not a good one.

Beca had just yanked—well, struggled to yank—her scarf off of her neck, nearly strangling herself but not caring at the moment. She then dropped her arms down to her sides and gave her boyfriend a look that said, _"Not now."_

"Hey. Uh, hey. Are you working on anything tonight?" Jamie called after her as she retreated to the closet, practically ripping her bartending shirt off of herself.

"Like what?" Beca finally spoke, the anger still very much present in her voice.

"You know, one of your instruments? A-a mix? Like—Hey, don't you have an audition or something later this week that you need to get ready for?" the writer questioned, hoping he could still go through with his little surprise that night and maybe even put a smile onto that beautiful face.

"I'm not going," the small blonde mumbled as she walked back, dressed in sweatpants and a sweater.

"Why?" Jamie asked as she passed by him, genuinely confused and concerned as to why she wouldn't want to go.

"'Cause. I'm not gonna get it," she bluntly stated as she curled up onto the couch, facing away from the stupid world.

"Oh, come on," the young author said as he put down whatever decoration he'd been holding and made his was to sit beside his girlfriend, picking up her jacket and putting it onto the couch as he went, "Did you call your agent already then?"

"He's on a retreat," Beca informed, still pouting and not facing the other.

"Retreat? What the hell is an"—he took her legs from her curled up position and draped them over his lap so that she would finally fully look at him—"agent retreat?"

"I don't know. I'm like 97% sure they don't 're-learn how to sing as a group while also enduring death-defying, team-building trust exercises' though," the small blonde stated, "Maybe they go into the woods and sacrifice actresses to breed more agents?"

Jamie stared at girlfriend for a moment before saying, "That's frightening…Beca."

What was even more frightening though was the fact that she'd said that with such a straight expression that she could've possibly been serious about the prospect of that being true.

He then laughed lightly as she half-heartedly defended her suggestion, "I don't know. I don't make them do it."

"Hey, no, look," the writer started the first step in his plan while he played with his girlfriend's legs, consequently straightening her out on the couch (he really loved her legs. For such a short woman, she had a really nice pair of them), "I have prepared a little surprise for you"—his voice had started taking up a funny accent at this point—"in the form of a story."

He laughed again when she started to tiredly refuse, "No, baby. Please no."

"Come on!" Jamie begged.

"I've had such a shitty day. Please," Beca continued to plead with her boyfriend.

"No, I have—Listen, I've been—…literally been doing this for hours, so you're gonna sit up for like five minutes and listen," the young author lightly ordered as he got off of the couch, bringing his girlfriend's legs with him but her upper body remaining in the same position.

"You know, if I'd known there were gonna be this many stories, I wouldn't have ever dated a writer," Beca stated matter-of-factly as she lazily lifted her legs back up onto the couch.

"Aha. Well, too late," Jamie cheekily replied.

He playfully laughed as he prepared himself to tell the story. Firstly, he made his way over to his girlfriend's laptop that she'd just noticed was on top of the low bookcase, directly parallel to the couch, on the other side of the room.

"What—What are you doing? Why is my laptop there? Who said you could touch my stuff?" Even though he was her first serious relationship, Beca never abandoned the rule of "no one touches her music equipment".

"Don't worry, babe. I put plastic gloves on before handling it," the taller brunette jokingly reassured.

"Is…Is that my latest song?" the tiny actress questioned as he opened up the track she'd just finished making that past week.

She would be proud to say that ever since producing Emily's Flashlight, she'd really started "owning an original voice". However, she obviously wasn't really using it for anything…truly productive anymore.

"Yup," Jamie answered simply.

Beca stared at her boyfriend in confusion, to which he just laughed in dismissal at as he pressed play on the music.

"You're gonna like it," the writer guaranteed, "I promise. It's a Christmas story. You like Christmas. I call it _The Story of Schmuel: The Composer of Klimovich_."

The small brunette still didn't really look into it and a little disgruntled that he'd touched her music stuff without her permission.

Nevertheless, he sat onto the bench of Beca's black, digital piano as if he were going to play something despite not knowing how to play a single musical instrument. He set up the rest of his "set", placing a couple music sheets onto the piano's music stand and turning on the little lights above, and started his story, _singing_ along to the instrumental song.

_Schmuel would work 'till half-past ten at his studio in Klimovich_

Though he had no interest in any kind of musical career nor hobby, Jamie had such a beautiful voice. Beca truly believed it was even a voice for Broadway. However he just wasn't into it, which was a shame, but it was his life to do with as he pleased. _  
_

_Get up at dawn and start again with the keys and beats and gist_

The young author turned towards the ebony and ivory keys, rearranged the pages on top, and placed his hands into a playing position.

"Are you gonna touch my piano right now?" the former Bellas' captain asked somewhat worriedly for her nice instrument.

He didn't.

He simply pretended to press onto the keys and to push on the pedals, being slightly overly theatrical with his motions. _  
_

_Forty-one years had come and gone at his studio in Klimovich_

_Watching the winter soldier on, there was one thing Schmuel missed_

"Ready for this?" Jamie asked with a cheeky, little smile, before continuing in what was meant to be a _very_ old man's raspy voice with an accent. _  
_

_"If I only had time," old Schmuel said_

_"I would write a song that's in my head_

_A song to fire_

_The mad desire_

_Of girls from here to Minsk_

_But I have no more hours for this, I know"_

Beca watched her boyfriend, wondering how he was so good at that voice and also how weird yet admittedly pretty adorable the guy she was dating was.

For the next part of the story, or rather the first pre-chorus of the song, Jamie reverted back to his natural singing voice. _  
_

_Then the clock upon the wall began to glow…_

As he got more into it, the writer slowly rose from the bench and redirected the lights a little more towards his girlfriend to make himself a shadow. He backed up as he held a long note for that last word, holding his arms out as if the lights were some grand power source. Finally, he spotted an umbrella resting on the floor and made a last minute choice to pick it up and use it as another story prop, like a cane. _  
_

_And the clock said:_

_"Na na na na na na na_

_Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!_

_"Oh, Jesus. What have I done getting involved with this psychopath?"_ Beca thought as she watched Jamie point towards the lights with his umbrella, one arm up in the air. _  
_

_Na na na na na na na_

_I give you unlimited time!_

"It's a magical clock!" the male brunette exclaimed to clarify his character change.

"I've never been more attracted to you," the tiny actress sarcastically stated in a flat tone. _  
_

_Na na na na na na na_

_So Schmuel, just go and be happy!"_

_But Schmuel said:_

Jamie rushed to switch back to his Schmuel character and sat onto the piano bench again. _  
_

_"No, no! It's not my lot_

_I've got to make do with the time I've got"_

"Oh, look at the time," "Schmuel" said as he started to put the music sheets away quite messily, "It's time to go. Oop—Here we go."

Beca was about to question her boyfriend's sanity when she heard a little crash and watched a couple of her things, like her guitar tuner, capo, and a couple picks, fall to the floor because of the young author.

"Why do all my things have to come into this?" the small brunette half-heartedly whined yet made absolutely no moves to get up to stop him nor to clean up his mess. _  
_

_Schmuel was done at half-past ten and he said, "Good night, old Klimovich"_

_Put on his coat to go, but then the clock cried, "Wait! Not yet!_

Jamie had very suddenly jumped back and pointed the umbrella again as if it were a sword on the word "wait", which startled his girlfriend quite a bit.

"Pretty good, right?" the young author asked in a faux arrogant voice as he wriggled his eyebrows at her. _  
_

_Even though you're not wise or rich_

_You're the finest man in Klimovich_

_Listen up, Schmuel_

_Produce one note and you'll see what you can get"_

_But Schmuel said:_

_"Clock, it's much too late_

_I'm at peace with life_

_I accept my fate…"_

_But the clock said:_

_"Schmuel! One note and you will_

_Unlock the dreams you've lost!"_

_So Schmuel, with reluctance, delved into his head_

Jamie hurriedly put the umbrella down and sat onto another chair, grabbing one of Beca's music notebooks and a pencil. He then over-dramatically pretended to write in it. _  
_

_He prepared a sharpened pencil and he said_

_"I should take out my teeth and go to bed_

_I'm sitting here with talking clocks instead!"_

As he hit the high point on that long note, the writer tossed the notebook and pencil onto the ground and got back into his "magical clock" pose. _  
_

_And the clock said:_

_"Na na na na na na na_

_Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!_

"And then you dance," Jamie "suggested" as he started hopping a little from side to side.

"No," Beca refused, "No thank you."

Of course, she wasn't allowed to not participate though and so the next thing she knew she was being pulled up onto her feet by her boyfriend. _  
_

_Na na na na na na na,_

_I give you unlimited time_

_Na na na na na na na_

_Just do it and you can be happy!"_

Jamie had led the short girl over to the dining table and sat her down onto the last dining chair remaining. The only one actually in its proper spot. _  
_

_So Schmuel pressed the lead where the music sheets lie_

_And the moon stared down from a starless sky_

Jamie sang to her as he backed up and spun the lampshade of this cool, low-hanging ceiling light in the corner of the living room. _  
_

_And he traced the lead, staining the page with black_

_And he looked, and the clock was turning…back_

Next, Jamie took the guitar beside the piano off of its stand and strummed the open strings once as he sang before carefully putting it back. _  
_

_So he sat at his piano and he started to play_

_As the old clock's hands went the opposite way_

He then grabbed a couple of leftover, fabric, Christmas decorations and playfully made his way back to his girlfriend. _  
_

_And his fingers flew as he began to sway_

_Always 9:15, Earth stuck on one day_

_Every chord and note was a perfect pitch_

_As if God himself were controlling it!_

_And Schmuel cried through a rush of tears_ _  
_

Jamie had started decorating the small blonde like a Christmas tree with anything he could find.

He had put strings of tinsel and a couple plastic-bead necklaces around her neck and attached two ornaments to all of it. _  
_

_"Take me back! Take me back all forty-one years!"_

The young author backed up, on his knees, and was in almost a begging position as he basically yelled the last sentences.

He then took a deep breath and smiled when he noticed the little smirk he'd gotten from his girlfriend, knowing that his story was finally starting to work. _  
_

_And on it went down that silent street_

_'Till Schmuel's song was at last complete_

Finally, Jamie finished his little "Beca tree" off with a present topper on her head.

She looked positively adorable.

He then started moving around the room and uncovering a couple things and rearranging others. _  
_

_And he stretched his arms_

_And he closed his eyes_

_And the morning sun finally started to rise_

Right on the word "rise", the writer flipped the switch that turned the lights of their mini Christmas tree on as well as a bunch of little lanterns attached to a string that ran along the wall and up to the low-hanging ceiling light from earlier. _  
_

_And the song he wrote on that endless night_

_Was a song that would make any soul take flight_

_Not a sharp, not a flat was out of place_

_The beautiful melody, a perfect_ _b_ _ase_

Jamie was once again kneeling before his girlfriend as he added yet another string of plastic beads around her neck and two more ornaments, to which she grinned at, trying not to laugh at his antics. _  
_

_And written with a theme_

_Of forty-one seasons of dreams_ _  
_

Jamie gently took Beca's hand and led her out of her seat. He then held her other hand, as if they were slow dancing. He even spun her, which made one of the ornaments fall to the ground.

The two only smiled and got closer as the brown-haired man took the present topper off of his girlfriend's head and tossed it to the floor. _  
_

_Dreams that you could feel_

_Coming real_

"Come on," the writer whispered to the short girl and motioned for her to go sit on the cushioned bench at the foot of their bed. _  
_

_And that very song, so the papers swore_

_Was the song a girl in Odessa heard_

_On the day she promised forevermore_

_To love a young man named Schmuel_

Jamie, instead of following his girlfriend, had backed up to the guitar on its stand. He had wrapped the instrument in more Christmas lights and turned it on too as he sang for her. _  
_

_Who only one day before_

_Had knocked at her kitchen door_

Jamie stood in the middle of the living room and clapped his hands together, proud of himself and his story that put that smile he loved so much back onto his girl's face.

He then bowed as Beca applauded him and thanked her in his cute, little accent, "A thank you."

"That was pretty long, but it was fun," the small blonde genuinely complimented her boyfriend with a big, loving grin.

"Oh, it's not over yet," Jamie guaranteed as he approached the tiny actress and started singing again. _  
_

_Plenty have hoped and dreamed and prayed_

_But they can't get out of Klimovich_ _  
_

The young author pointed right at Beca's forehead, indicating that "Klimovich" represented her head. _  
_

_If Schmuel had been a cute goyishe maid_

_He'd've looked a lot like you_ _  
_

"Sorry," Beca interrupted in surprise and slight offense, "I'm Schmuel in this story?"

"Oh yeah," Jamie answered with a laugh.

"I'm not the girl from Odessa?" the small blonde asked.

_Maybe it's just that you're afraid to go out onto a limb-ovich_ _  
_

The former Bellas captain hummed a little in somewhat agreement while her boyfriend made a strange sound and face. _  
_

_Maybe your heart's completely swayed But your head can't follow through_ _  
_

_"Or maybe_ _it's_ _the other_ _way around_ _,"_ Beca awkwardly thought. _  
_

_But shouldn't I want the world to see_

_The brilliant girl who inspires me?_

_Don't you think that now's a good time to be the ambitious freak you are?_

Jamie had removed all of the decorations from his girlfriend, which had flipped her hair over her face.

He laughed as he pushed the golden-blonde locks back and held her face in his hands as she giggled with him. _  
_

_Say goodbye to wiping ashtrays at the bar_ _  
_

"Come on," the young author prompted the tiny actress as he helped her stand up on the bench. _  
_

_Say hello to Beca Mitchell, a big-time star!_

They both played along as if Jamie was a presenter and Beca was waving to adoring fans.

He then picked her up, which made her squeal in surprise. With his arms wrapped securely around her thighs, he spun them both around as he walked back towards the living room. _  
_

_'Cause I say:_

_"Na na na na na na na na_ _  
_

Jamie put his girlfriend onto the floor as she playfully pulled him along through the living room by the arm. _  
_

_Beca, you get to be happy!_

_Na na na na na na na_ _  
_

They started spinning and bouncing around together, laughing and having a good time with one another. _  
_

_I give you unlimited time!_

_Na na na na na na na_ _  
_

Jamie suddenly hoisted his girlfriend up onto his shoulder, which made her squeal again but laugh even harder. _  
_

_Stop temping and go, go be happy!_ _  
_

The brown-haired man pointed back towards the bench and grabbed some things off of the dining table and an end table somewhere. _  
_

_Here's a headshot guy and a new Backstage_

_Where you're right for something on every page_ _  
_

Jamie thrusted the pages into Beca's hands, which she took with a slightly reluctant smile as she sat back down onto the cushioned furniture, the writer following her down and onto his knees in front of her.

If only he could've been this supportive with her actual dreams. _  
_

_Take a breath_

_Take a step_

_Take a chance_ _  
_

As he held the note for the word "chance", the writer grabbed the present he'd been preparing before his girlfriend had arrived and handed it to her with a soft and loving smile. _  
_

_Take your time_ _  
_

Beca easily unfolded the box with the intricate opening and discovered a beautiful, fancy, golden watch.

She stared at the nice timepiece with a gentle smile. She then looked back up towards her boyfriend to thank him, but he was no longer kneeling in front of her and was instead standing under the threshold between the living room and their bedroom.

The moment their eyes met, he flipped another switch and even more Christmas lights that were attached to the threshold arch and a beam for the ceiling behind him.

The apartment looked absolutely beautiful and Beca felt a hundred times better than when she'd first gotten home. She felt so lucky to be with someone who would go through this much effort just to make her smile and laugh and dance together. _  
_

_Have I mentioned today_ _  
_

The small blonde smiled softly and lovingly at her boyfriend before standing up and joining him in the other room. _  
_

_How lucky I am_ _  
_

She put her arms around him and held him tightly, and vice versa, and rested her head on his chest.

Jamie, in response, lightly rested his chin atop her head as he continued singing in a gentle voice, both of them only vaguely noticing that the music still playing was coming to an end. _  
_

_To be in love with you?_ _  
_

As the last few measures played through, Beca lifted her head and Jamie raised his. The two then met in the middle as they shared a short but sweet kiss.

They stayed standing in the living room, wrapped up in one another's arms, feeling nothing but pure unadulterated love for each other and perfectly content just being together for as long as they could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 6: Forever, With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short, little filler/subplot chapter. Mostly our main girls chilling and talking. Hope you enjoy this little bit.

_January 2016, New York City_

Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey sat in their favourite Starbucks, waiting for Beca and Jamie to arrive. It was their favourite because it was in between their two apartments at almost exact equal distances, so it was an easy meeting spot.

"Oh my god! It was so freaking adorable! Miles and Nicky just straight up broke out into a pirouette-off in the middle of the studio!" Stacie recounted the story of her dance class' New Years party (even though it was almost a week late), "Just imagine: two little 10-year-olds just talking and then all of a sudden both of them just bursting into pirouettes. And they were good! They both got to around seven. That's impressive for kids that age."

"Oh my god! That sounds so cute!" Chloe gushed at the mental image of the two boys.

"It really was," Aubrey agreed, "Those two are gonna be great dancers, I can see it."

"You're only saying that because a certain someone special is the teacher," the redhead jokingly accused.

"Guilty," the blonde laughed as she placed a quick kiss on the taller woman's cheek.

Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey continued to converse, until they finally spotted the couple enter the coffee shop. The three women all stood up to greet the two with hugs and hi's.

Well, Chloe greeted Beca with a hug and an enthusiastic "hi". Jamie got an awkward, one-armed hug and an unnoticeably half-hearted "hey".

The other two girls really liked him, so he got a very welcoming greeting from them.

The redhead, on the other hand, still didn't like him and she had yet to figure out why exactly. She often chalked it up to jealousy, but she felt like it was something more.

It was really hard finding it though. He was handsome, nice, intelligent, he had a bright future ahead. Maybe that was it? He was too perfect. Although that still didn't narrow it down to the one flaw she felt he must have…Damn it.

"We're so sorry we're late, guys," Beca apologized to her friends as she and her boyfriend removed their coats and slid into the booth together on one side with Jamie by the window, herself in the middle, and Chloe on the end, "So, what's the big news?"

"Don't look at me"—the ginger redirected the younger woman's attention to the other couple across from them—"I'm just as clueless as you two. They're the ones who summoned you here."

"That we did, uh," Stacie confirmed with a rapidly growing smile, "So…we're getting married."

It took a short moment for their announcement to register in their friends' brains, but when it did, all of their jaws dropped and the group stood up to share congratulatory hugs.

"Oh my god!" Beca exclaimed in excitement.

"That is so amazing!" Chloe exclaimed as well.

"Congratulations, guys!" Jamie joined.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" the small blonde interjected as they all sat back down, "When did this happen? How did it happen—"

"And how did it happen without me knowing about it? I mean, I freaking live wth you two!" the redhead chimed in.

"Very true," Beca agreed, giving her friend a curious look, which was responded to with a playful shove.

"Well, you know how I was talking about the New Years party at the studio earlier?"—Chloe nodded very enthusiastically—"Let's just say the pirouette-off wasn't the most exciting thing that had happened there and Aubrey actually made a New Years resolution this year," the dance teacher hinted with a silly smile and a wink.

"Oh my god!" both of the shorter Bellas repeated as they beamed, ecstatic for their best friends.

"So since that's out now," Aubrey continued, "Chloe, I'd love for you to be my maid of honour."

"And Beca, I'd love for you to be mine," Stacie finished.

"Uh, yes! Of course!" Beca easily agreed.

"We are going to help you plan the best freaking wedding ever and you guys are gonna have aca-awesome bachelorette parties! And that's a Chloe Beale guarantee," Chloe assured the newly engaged couple very confidently.

"Thanks, guys," the new fiancées laughed at their best friends' enthusiasm.

"So, who are you gonna ask to be your other bridesmaids?" the tiny actress asked as she absent-mindedly leaned into her boyfriend's side and he, in response, wrapped an arm around her.

_"Suddenly wish I was sitting on the other side…of the store,"_ the ginger internally remarked, subtly shuffling a little farther from the two, _"Ugh, stop being mean, Chloe! They've been a couple for a really long time now and it doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. You really gotta start getting used to this faster."_

"Well, since neither of us have any biological sisters or any biological siblings at all, we've just divided the rest of the Bellas," the strawberry-blonde replied.

"So, Stacie has asked for you to be her maid of honour, Beca, and she's gonna ask CR, Flo, and Lilly to be her bridesmaids and I'm gonna ask Amy, Emily, Jessica, and Ashley to be mine," Aubrey told their friends.

"Aww! Oh my god! I love that! We haven't all seen each other since Cynthia's wedding," Chloe gushed at the idea of being all together for another one of their best friends' wedding.

"Oh, man. That was fucking crazy. Literally exactly what you'd expect from one: a Las Vegas wedding, two: a CR wedding, and three: any kind of social gathering involving the Bellas, especially Fat Amy," Beca reminisced with a humorous yet fond smile.

"Still don't understand how Amy's bra ended up dangling from the venue's chandelier," Chloe wondered, "And how she'd known to bring a backup one."

"Understand? I don't even remember it being there. I was too distracted trying to figure out why and how Lilly and Flo were basically doing a trapeze act up there," Stacie chimed in.

"It's a fucking miracle they didn't break the thing. Imagine Cynthia's reaction to having to pay for that. Well, you know, once she was sober," Aubrey added.

"Weren't Jessica and Ashley like in their own little world, dancing like the tango or salsa together the entire time, even though Beca's remixes of like Titanium and Bulletproof and stuff like that were playing?" the redhead questioned.

"Wait, they were still there?" the shortest former Bellas captain asked in surprise, "I thought they'd gone back to their room early."

"Yeah, they were literally there the whole time," the leggy strawberry blonde answered.

"Which one's the blonde again?" Jamie finally piped up.

Silence.

The four women looked at each other, their eyebrows furrowed in thought, mouthing the two names to one another.

"Jessica," Aubrey and Chloe responded, unsurely.

"Ashley," Beca and Stacie replied at the same moment as the other two, just as unconvincingly.

They then switched answers, speaking simultaneously once again, even more uncertain of their responses.

"How do we still not know this by now?" Chloe wondered, "I mean, we have known them for four and a half years now. And why do we always call them 'Jessica and Ashley' and never 'Ashley and Jessica'?"

The other Bellas just shrugged, before agreeing to move on.

"Hey, what was Emily doing the entire time?" the ginger asked.

"Oh yeah! She was a classic! She's such a lightweight. She truly believed she was in a circus and Lilly and Flo were professional trapeze artists. She kept calling Amy the bearded woman, Aubrey the ringmaster, and me the contortionist. She thought she was the fire-breather," Stacie recalled, "Thank god CR isn't a big fan of candles and all they had were the fake ones with the little bulbs."

"Oh, right! Didn't she still think she was actually breathing fire though?" Chloe questioned.

"Yes, but that's because Beca and Stacie had decided to trick her into thinking she really could by covering a broom in one of the red table cloths and throwing it right when she blew," the oldest blonde reminded her best friend.

"Aha! Oh yeah! Now, I remember," the ginger remembered with a chuckle at the two younger girl's antics.

"You know, even though you're all crazy psychos most of the time, I love seeing you aca-awesome nerds. I'm happy we're gonna be seeing everyone again soon," Beca said, "So what made you decide to finally ask, Posen?"

"I mean, we've known each other for four and a half years now and we've been dating for four of them and I just couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else as my partner. I just figured it was time I finally ask her," the tall blonde answered as she smiled lovingly at her fiancée and gently grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers.

"Awwwww!" the flame-haired actress practically swooned.

"Well, well, who knew the Aubrey Posen could be such a romantic?" the shortest of the former Bellas captains teased the taller one.

"I certainly did," Stacie responded, winking at her tiny friend and giving her future wife a quick kiss.

"How is it that you can make a completely normal and friendly wink overly sexual?" Beca jokingly questioned.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment because I consider it to be a talent," the leggy woman replied, smiling broadly.

"Mhm. M-'kay. You do that, Stace," the shortest blonde responded.

"Hey, Bec, I gotta get going. You staying?" Jamie suddenly cut in, rising from his seat a bit.

"Yeah, I'll see you at home, babe," Beca answered.

Chloe and Beca stood and moved to let the dark-haired man out. The couple hugged and shared a quick kiss before both girls sat back down and Jamie left the shop.

"So, do you think you and Jamie will be getting engaged soon if at all?" Stacie curiously asked, hoping her bringing this up won't upset her flame-haired friend too much.

"Whoa, Stace. Calm down. Let's not get crazy here, okay?" the shortest blonde told the tallest, "I mean, yeah, I love Jamie. So freaking much. And I think he's special and he makes me feel special. But I don't think we're quite ready for marriage yet."

"That's completely understandable, Beca," Aubrey said, "I mean, you two have only been dating for like seven months and you're still not completely sure where this relationship is going, right?"

_"You followed him to New York. Obviously it's going somewhere,"_ the redhead bitterly thought, always unable to silence the jealous and petty part of her brain when it came to their relationship.

"Yeah. You know, I just—I wanna make sure…God, this sounds so fucking cheesy, but I wanna make sure he's the one. I wanna get the same feeling as you two. The 'unable to imagine myself being with anyone else' feeling and right now, I just don't know. It's not a definite yes yet, but it might be eventually," Beca answered with a shrug.

Chloe didn't know if she should be happy that the girl she loved didn't want to marry the guy she was with yet or if she should be sad that she might want to later on.

Stacie had warned her that it would be hard trying to be just her best friend and damn was she right. Did she think it was going to be _this_ hard though? Of course not! Who ever expects things like that correctly? Being around them was already difficult enough, but now with marriage starting to come up into conversations.

She really should've expected this though. A relationship with…with a connection this strong, she should've known marriage would eventually become a possibility. How did she expect it with Aubrey and Stacie but not them? Maybe she was in denial about how much they truly liked—correction, loved—each other.

"Makes sense, Bec," Stacie agreed with her friend's opinion, "There's really no rush. I know there are a bunch of couples out there who get married ridiculously early and a lot of them statistically don't work out. I mean, look at Aubrey and me. We decided to wait and I'm glad we did. We took our time to make sure that we're it for each other."

Beca nodded and said, "And that's exactly what I'm planning on doing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really hope I'm not getting repetitive and boring with Chloe's jealousy. Thanks for reading.


	8. Chapter 7: Climbing Uphill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to give a shoutout to RJRMovieFan for a couple ideas in the following chapter. Thanks for the suggestions and I hope that I at least kinda met your expectations.  
> TW: Brief mentions of past self-harm

_May 2016, New York City_

Beca stood, nervous as hell, in front of a panel of two audition judges. She nodded to the pianist, giving him the cue to start the song she'd written to audition with.

She looked back towards the two men and she swore she nearly pulled an Aubrey at 2011 ICCA finals right then and there. Nevertheless, she plastered a big, fake smile on her face because if there was one thing her crabby, bossy, old agent reenforced into her brain, it was to always smile.

Your voice cracks, smile. You hit a wrong note, smile. You mess up your line, smile. You forget your words, smile. You fall onto your ass, smile. You look like a fucking anxiety-wrecked idiot, smile.

The first chord sounded and Beca started soon after.

_"When you come home to me"_

Okay, that was a shaky start. Beca hated it so much when her nerves seeped into her singing. It made her notes falter and even just one pitch a single semitone off could cost her. It never happened when she was singing just for fun, for her mixes and songs, or with the Bellas.

She'd sung in front of about twelve Worlds judges and over 300 000 people, the majority of whom had already picked their choices of winners before their performance.

And yet here she was, singing in front of a mere count of two men who weren't doing anything different really. Maybe it was because her career (if she could even call it that) depended on her getting just _one_ role?

_"I'll wear a sweeter smile_

_And hope that for a while you'll stay—"_

Wow. It took exactly eleven seconds for the director to put his hand up to silence and dismiss her, a clear sign of rejection. He then leaned towards his colleague and whispered something, probably about how horrible her audition was. Yay.

"Okay," Beca breathed out, fake smile still painfully remaining on her face, "Thank you."

Her voice broke slightly as she basically thanked the duo for their rejection. She then walked out of the seemingly burning spotlight and gathered her things, rapidly blinking away tears threatening to spill out at the embarrassment and pain of her failure and letting out another barely audible "thanks". And just to make things worse, she was going to another audition in two days.

The small blonde dialled her boyfriend as she walked through the theatre to get outside, feeling the need to vent to someone. She didn't think he was the best person to complain about acting to, but Chloe had her own auditions today and Stacie and Aubrey were at work.

_"Hey, it's Jamie. Sorry I couldn't take your call. Leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Later."_

He must be writing.

"Hey, Jamie. Uh, it's Beca. I just wanted to warn you that I'm on my way home. Um, uh," Beca spoke into her phone, disappointed that her boyfriend hadn't picked up, "Yeah, so the audition…it didn't go well."

The tiny actress sighed as she pushed the door open and started down the street towards her and Jamie's apartment.

"I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, but God! It just feels like I'm climbing uphill, Jamie. I'm up almost every morning at 6:00 so that I can stand in line with like 200 other girls who are younger and thinner than me and who've probably already been to the gym. I wait for like five hours in that damn line and watch the girls coming and going, usually in dresses that look just like mine, until my number or my name is finally called.

"When I walk in the room, there's a table of men, always men and also usually gay for reasons I don't know, who've been sitting like I have and listening all day to 200 girls belting as high as they can. And I'm literally just like them. I don't stand out like I did at Barden and in the Bellas. I don't really know how to for these things.

"I've taken so many acting classes that I basically relearned things during the last three. I've practiced and memorized everything I've needed to. I've got Mike who yeah, isn't the most supportive or caring, but he gets his job done. I-I just don't know what else I can do to…be better. Maybe I should talk to Chloe. She'd know more about this. I don't know.

"Anyway, sorry for leaving this long ass message. I didn't mean to start ranting on you—well, your voicemail. I'll see you at home. Love you. Bye."

* * *

Beca arrived home in around twenty-five minutes. She opened their rickety, old door, making quite a racket as usual. She hoped Jamie wasn't napping.

"What the hell?" the write angrily exclaimed, slamming his pen down onto his desk and shooting towards the door. He immediately calmed down a bit though when he realized who it was. "Wha—Beca, what are you doing back so early?"

The small brunette, who had been quite surprised and a little scared at the anger her boyfriend had just shown for the first time, stuttered out her answer, "I-I'm sorry. My audition didn't go well, so I came home. I-I called you, but you didn't answer, so I left a message. I'm sorry, Jamie. I didn't mean to bother you."

"No! N-n-n-n-no! I'm the one who should be sorry, Bec. I didn't mean to yell. I was just really in the zone and the stupid door distracted me and I lost my train of thought," Jamie quickly explained.

"I'm sorry," Beca repeated.

"No, no. It's all good. I was due to take a break soon anyway and since you're here, I can relax with my favourite girl," the young author said, kissing his significant other on the head, then cleaning up his desk.

"Are you sure? I can leave or just do something quiet if you wanna keep writing," the tiny actress offered, feeling as though she'd annoyed her boyfriend.

"Seriously, Bec. It's okay. I'd much rather hang out with you instead," Jamie assured the short woman as he settled himself onto the couch and beckoned her over, "Wanna watch something on Netflix?"

"Yeah, sure. You pick," Beca agreed, putting her stuff away, then joining the brown-haired man on the sofa.

"So the audition didn't work out?" the writer asked sympathetically as he browsed through Netflix and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend.

The tiny actress pursed her lips and responded, trying to mask her upset over the failure, "Uh, no. It actually kinda sucked. I don't know how I'm gonna possibly pass the next one."

"Do you think you need to take more classes? We'll be able to afford some more by next week probably. Maybe we can even find you a better agent instead of that asshole you have right now," Jamie suggested, attempting to be helpful.

_"Wow, he really didn't listen to my message, did he?"_ Beca thought, remembering how she'd mentioned that changing either of those didn't seem like the solution in her message.

"No, I don't think that's what I need, but I don't exactly know what I do need," the small blonde tried to explain, "I just—I don't know, but I don't really feel like thinking about it anymore."

"Okay then. No audition talk. Promise. So why don't I put 50/50 on and we just lay here together?" the young author proposed.

"Yeah," Beca agreed, getting comfortably cuddled up against her boyfriend.

"Yeah?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah," the former Bellas' captain repeated, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

The brown-haired man smiled and pressed play, before getting more comfortable himself.

Eventually, Beca started to doze off as usual during movies, so Jamie shifted on the couch. He laid along the length of the sofa, softly running his hand along his girlfriend's hair, who was curled up and sleeping soundly on top of him, enjoying the stress-free state she finally felt after a long, tiring day.

* * *

_Two days later…_

_"When finally you come home to—"_

"Thanks, that's great," the director indifferently cut off Beca's singing.

The small blonde immediately stopped, smiling through the disappointment, and glanced at the pianist, who gave her a look that said _"That's not a good sign"_.

"Thank you," Beca said, "Thank you very much."

She then packed up her things and left the theatre, yet again unsuccessful. This time though, she wasn't upset, she was just frustrated and kind of pissed off. Two failures in one week made the whole defeated feeling really old.

She was about to start walking home, but then she remembered Jamie was writing again before they were to meet up for his first ever author book reading at a local book store.

She also recalled what had happened last time she'd gotten home unexpectedly. Yeah, she didn't want a repeat of that. Her boyfriend had brushed it off and insisted that it wasn't a big deal, but she still felt bad for disturbing him.

Instead, Beca dialled her redheaded best friend. It rang once, then she got a response midway through the second ring.

_"Hey, Becs. What's up? How'd your audition go?"_ Chloe asked when she answered.

"It didn't go well…as usual. Are you busy? We haven't hung out, just the two of us, in so freaking long and I miss that and I'm sorry for it. I really could use some one on one with my best friend. Are you up for meeting at our Starbucks?" the tiny actress requested.

_"Yeah, I'd really love that,"_ the redhead agreed, the smile practically audible in her voice, _"See you there in like half an hour?"_

"Perfect. See you," Beca returned, then hung up and started making her way to the Starbucks.

* * *

"It was probably my worst audition," Beca stated very bluntly.

"Oh come on," Chloe said, thinking her best friend was just letting her insecurities speak for her.

"No, really. I'm not even over-exaggerating. Like, I don't mean it's, like, the worst I've ever sung that song. I mean it was the worst because I couldn't even hear myself. My stupid brain was talking over me singing," the small blonde clarified, "I couldn't stop worrying about whether or not the piano was playing louder than I was singing. I kept considering stopping and starting over.

"The director was staring at his crotch for some reason. Another man was staring at my resumé and I kept wondering why he was staring at my resumé.

"Then I felt like they were staring at my fuck-ugly shoes. Like, why did I pick these shoes? I hate these stupid shoes!

"Like, Jesus Christ! I just kept repeating 'I suck! I suck! I suck!' in my head and I kept thinking stuff like 'Why does this pianist hate me? Why am I ruining my own song? Why am I trying so hard? Why did I pick this career?'—"

"Why _did_ you pick this career?" Chloe suddenly questioned, cutting off her fast rambling.

There were so many times when she had wanted to interrupt and comment, usually to say that she was wrong and that she was everything amazing and more, but she'd also known that Beca had needed to vent to her.

That question though, about picking this career, she couldn't help but bring it up. She already suspected that Jamie had something to do with it, but she wanted to know exactly what had happened for Beca to give up the one thing that was once her only source of happiness.

Realizing she had slipped up a bit, Beca shook her head slightly and asked dumbly, "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Becs, come on. There's no way this could've been a spur of the moment decision to…you know, stop music," the redhead urged the younger woman to confide in her.

"Well, one: I didn't stop music. I still make it, I just stopped trying to become a music producer—" Beca pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone, trying to subtly dodge having to provide an answer.

"Okay, then there's no way this could've been a spur of the moment decision to stop becoming a music producer," Chloe corrected herself.

"Secondly, it wasn't," the small blonde added, still stalling.

"Okay, so then what happened? Did you think about this throughout the entirety of the one month that we didn't see you?" the flame-haired actress pressed on, "I'm not trying to interrogate you or disrespect your choices, Becs, I swear. I'm just trying to understand why music is apparently no longer your passion."

Beca opened her mouth to reply, but she didn't even have a response ready, so nothing came out.

_"Hi, baby," Beca greeted her boyfriend from her seat on the bed with her classical guitar as she scribbled some notes down onto her composing notebook._

_"Hey," Jamie responded as he set his backpack on the floor near the door and plopped down onto the bed on the other side of his significant other, "What've you been up to all day?"_

_"Working on this song," the small blonde answered as she continued writing._

_"Is it a remix? Or a mashup?" the dark-haired man asked._

_"Neither. If I wanna actually impress potential labels, I gotta have some original material. I think this one or my other one, even if it's just a snippet but a really polished one, will do the trick. I mean, I hope. I've been working on them since, like, after worlds. I busted my ass literally all summer on these songs. Well, you know, when I wasn't hanging out with you or the Bellas," Beca explained._

_"Huh. And, uh, what about the audition I mentioned earlier this week? Have you thought about it any more? It's in two days," Jamie curiously questioned._

_"Uh, no. No, I haven't thought about it," the tiny musician replied, then added after seeing the displeased look on her boyfriend's face, "Why do you keep bringing it up, Jamie? I told you already, I love music. Not acting."_

_"Like I said, I just thought maybe you could—" the writer tried to repeat his answer from their last conversation on this topic, but he was interrupted before he could finish._

_"No, co—Jamie, come on. Be real. You know I don't believe that one. Give me a real answer this time. Please," Beca demanded, setting her guitar onto its stand and her notebook aside so that she could have this conversation properly._

_Jamie looked slightly reluctant as he stared at his girlfriend. "You really want a reason?"_

_"I asked, didn't I?" the former brunette responded with a half playful smirk._

_The young man still looked hesitant. Nevertheless, he spoke, "Okay_ _._ _Not that I'm saying this will definitely happen, but what if all of this falls through? I know you're more than talented enough to make it in music, but I also know about the struggles you've faced with producing. And certain ways you decided to cope with the stress and the pressure."_

_Jamie reached over and gently massaged her arm where there were very faint, almost unnoticeable, but numerous scars scattered about. Beca knew exactly what he was referring to and he knew that she knew. Especially when she bowed her head slightly in guilt and regret and her eyes started glazing over, never meeting his._

_"I know how fucking amazing you are, Beca," the dark-haired man continued, "But a lot of people, especially in the music industry with their fucking standards and expectations, don't and won't recognize that. And I just don't want you to fall back on old habits._

_"I figured if you tried at something you didn't love and happened to not always succeed at, then maybe it wouldn't hurt as much. I know you love music and not acting, but that's the point. That may very well be the thing that protects you from the person who can hurt you the most."_

_Beca was silent for a long moment, her brain replaying Jamie's words over and over again. It was impossible to say he didn't have a strong argument and he was supposed to be the one who supported her and looked out for her the most in her life, right? He would know what was best for her, right?_

_Sure, the Bellas and her parents said she was amazing and incredible and unbeatable and whatever, but wasn't that their job? To boost her confidence, even if it wasn't true? Was any of it true? Or was it indeed just them doing their job?_

_But then there was Chloe. Chloe always told her that she was everything great and more. Chloe would never lie to her. Chloe was so honest and amazing and nice. But that's the thing: she's so nice. Maybe too nice to tell her that she really wasn't good enough…_

_"What time is the audition at again?"_

"I don't know. I just decided to do acting instead," Beca insisted, then quickly changed the subject when she noticed her best friend try to question her again, "Let's stop talking about me now. What about you? What's going on in the brilliant life of Chloe Beale?"

Chloe frowned a little when the small blonde implicitly refused to speak about the "music to acting" thing any further. Nevertheless, she reluctantly complied and responded, "Um, well, I got a supporting role in an off-Broadway production of Cats—"

"Holy shit! No way!" Beca exclaimed, wide-eyed and excited for her best friend, "That's awesome, Chlo!"

The redhead grinned, relieved that she wasn't upset that she'd begun moving along in acting while the shorter actress had been struggling a little.

Beca truthfully was a little bit disappointed in herself that she was still failing as an actress but her best friend wasn't. However, she remembered that one: this was what Chloe genuinely loved and had been working for much longer than herself and two: her best friend's happiness truly mattered more to her than her own.

"Thanks, Becs," the flame-haired Bella responded, "I got the role of Tantomile."

"Oh! She's the female one of the twin tabby-like cats who dance together in perfect unison a lot, right?" the small blonde asked.

"Actually, yeah. How'd you know?" Chloe questioned, surprised that she'd know that random piece of information.

"Eh, I've always loved and appreciated musical theatre," Beca replied with a shrug, "I mean, I'm in it now, aren't I? Even though I'm not…really…anyway, uh, congrats, Chlo! You've earned it."

"Thanks, Beca," the redhead said, then checked the time on her phone, "Hey, I actually have to get going."

The other Bella checked the time as well and started getting ready too, "Oh. Yeah, I do too actually. Jamie has his very first author book reading in like an hour and a half."

"Oh, that's great for him," Chloe commented, trying to sound genuine.

"Yeah, it is. What about you?" Beca curiously asked.

"Oh, I just…have a date," the flame-haired actress nonchalantly revealed with a shrug, not looking at her friend.

She didn't know why since they'd never dated, they weren't dating, and they won't be dating for a while as far as it seemed. It still felt weird though. She was basically telling the girl she loved that she was looking for someone she loved more so that she would stop pining after someone who wasn't single. Well, not that Beca knew about her feelings…or ever would probably.

On the other hand, the small blonde froze, not expecting that reason. She didn't know why it surprised her so much. Chloe was a very attractive and amazing person. Who wouldn't want to date her? She just, for some reason, hadn't anticipated her being with anyone.

It was stupid of her to assume such a thing and it was even stupider of her to feel a little upset about it. She was in a very happy relationship with a guy she loved very much. Chloe could be with whoever she wanted. She was completely allowed to look for a relationship like hers. They weren't tied to each other for life just because they both knew about her once being in love with her.

"That's great," Beca subconsciously reused Chloe's words and tone from before, "Why didn't you tell me you're with someone?"

"Because I'm not," the redhead answered a little awkwardly, "Not really. I—we just met, like, online. It's just a first date."

"Oh, you're—you're looking for someone?" the shorter actress asked.

"Well, I mean, kinda. I just thought, you know, you have Jamie and Bree and Stacie have each other…" Chloe said.

"Chlo, you should wanna date because you…wanna date, not because your friends are all in relationships," Beca told her best friend.

"No, I know and I do wanna date, that's just, you know, another reason why," the flame-haired Bella assured the younger woman.

"Right. Right. Yeah, okay, well then, good luck and have fun," the small blonde said, hating how awkward their conversation had gotten.

They were Beca and Chloe! They'd been the best of friends for four and a half years! They were known for their chemistry! Since when did they get awkward around each other?

"Yeah, I will hopefully," Chloe replied, catching on to the attempt at easing the sudden tension, "You too. Wish Jamie good luck for me."

"Yeah, I will. See you, Chlo," Beca responded.

"See you, Becs," the redhead returned.

The two shared a hug, before they finally parted ways, both girls feeling lighter yet more disappointed after their talk.

* * *

Beca stood in the bookstore amongst the rest of the small crowd. She applauded along with the others as she watched her boyfriend step onto the little stage and walk up to the podium. He was wearing his glasses and looked a little nervous, but it all made him look even more adorable.

He looked at her first, so she sent him a comforting smile, which lifted his own lips up, and he thanked his audience. He then looked down at his newly published book, _Light Out of Darkness_ , he took a deep breath, and then he started reading an excerpt from it.

"He touched the wall…and decided he had had enough. He was exhausted, first of all, and he could feel it. His lungs were throbbing and heavy and his left arm was stinging from the shoulder right down to his wrist. Besides that, seven laps in and the water was still freezing cold and if he wanted to be honest about it, he felt foolish.

"A ghost, pale, graceless thing flapping about frantically, desperately trying to keep pace with the mermaid in the next lane.

"He watched her. He watched her back stretching. Watched how she seemed to ride the water. He didn't recognize the fierceness in her…"

Beca felt guilty about it, but her ears had started drowning her boyfriend's words out. She'd already read the entire story before it had been made into a book, so she didn't feel completely guilty.

Her mind started to wander and it stopped at the multiple auditions she'd failed at since the beginning of her "acting" career. She then recalled her conversation with Chloe that afternoon. The small blonde soon realized that everyone she loved was advancing in life and she was still stuck at the starting line.

Chloe was getting back into dating, had gotten a pretty impressive role in an off-Broadway show, and was looking for her own apartment. Jamie had a book out now and was already starting on a second. And Stacie and Aubrey were getting married, had great jobs that they were good at, and were looking for their own place too since they were already discussing a family as well.

Then there she was. Struggling to get a single acting job, even roles in the chorus of local shows. Watching from the sidelines as her loved ones excelled through life. Leaning on Jamie to support them both while she searched and tried and failed.

All of these thoughts rushed into her head at once and this time, instead of getting depressed, she got angry and annoyed again. She was really getting tired of all of the rejection and it actually fanned her inner fire a little.

She finally felt some of her old college Beca Mitchell attitude start to return to her. She finally remembered that she never wanted to become the girl stuck at home in the suburbs with the baby, the dog, and…the garden of herbs. Definitely not that last one. She abhorred gardening.

She remembered that she promised herself that she wouldn't be the girl in the sensible shoes, pushing burgers and beer nuts and missing the clues that things are completely off for her.

_"I will not be the girl who gets asked how it feels to be trotting along at the genius's heels. I will not be the girl who requires a man to get by. And I—"_

Beca's thoughts were suddenly cut off as she heard the beginning of Jamie's final lines of his reading.

"He recognized her. 'I see you.'

"A clenched jaw, her sharp turns away from him.

"'You don't have to let me win!' she had been screaming.

"But he couldn't hear it at all," the young author finally finished the excerpt in a solemn tone.

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone digested the last powerful words. Then the entire crowd started clapping for Jamie and his beautiful writing and his emotional narration.

Beca immediately joined in once her mind returned to reality and she smiled proudly.

The writer immediately made eye contact with his girlfriend, who sent him a bright, loving grin, which he enthusiastically returned.

Their non-verbal interaction was interrupted when Jamie's agent and publisher approached him. They shook hands, shared a hug, and the two women gave a quick kiss on his cheek each.

"Jamie," Alise Michaels spoke to her promising client, "Beautiful."

"Thank you," the young author responded to the compliment.

"From Random House, David Fetzer and Catherine Morrow," the publisher introduced an older man and a woman as Jamie shook hands with them each, "And this is his agent, Mrs. Whitfield."

While the group went through introductory talk, the writer met eyes with his girlfriend again, who was awkwardly standing around, just waiting for him in patient silence. He wore a questioning expression and made a beckoning motion with his hand, asking her if she wanted to come over and join the conversation.

Beca, in response, shook her head with a light smile, politely declining his offer. She didn't really feel like standing over there while they talked about writing-related things when she could do the exact same thing from where she was without awkwardly hovering around them.

Jamie nodded in understanding, but they continued to share loving, excited smiles from across the room, both of them feeling happy and proud…although for slightly different reasons.

Of course Beca was incredibly proud of her boyfriend and happy for him and his success, but she was also happy and proud for and of herself because she finally felt a little more of her abandoned self-confidence return. It kind of felt like a new beginning for her.

She had just decided that she was going to wait a little before going to another audition to regain her bearings, work on a couple things, then get back into it with a new mindset. She finally had a good feeling about this different career path and she was pretty excited to see how she'd do once she started over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


End file.
